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Trial of war criminals

Shamsuddin Ahmed
THAT a very tiny segment of the population which had not only opposed our glorious liberation war and our independence in 1971 but also collaborated with the Pakistan occupation army in committing crimes against humanity has not been indicted for the anti-peoplc role it had played, and has remained free all these years to enjoy full freedom and rights to be elected leaders of this country is a gross historical aberra-uon and incongruity. But sadly enough, this is the legacy handed down to us by our rulers following the August 15 tragedy of 1975.
Even Sheikh Hasina said or did nothing to put an end to this shameful legacy while she was the prime minister of this country. Needless to say, the trial of the war criminals of 1971 is an inescapable necessity warranted by the norms of international justice.
It is not about killing of men fighting in the battlefield. It is about killing of innocent and unarmed people in cold blood in a spirit of ethnic cleansing It is about deliberate and selective killing of our educated and learned people, and dumping them in mass graves. It is about dishonouring of our women folk.
All credit to late Jahanara Imam, that frail lady and proud mother of a valiant freedom fighter, who epitomised the Bangladesh wc had dreamt of in 1971. It was she who led the movement for raising the voice and conscience of the people against the
quislings, and demanded their trial and punishment
For this role of hers, she was formally accused by the then government of Bangladesh of being involved in anti-state activities. But she remained undaunted, and committed to her ideals and role until she died broken hearted with the accusation of treason dangling over her. What an irony of fate!
Now, once again, the demand for trial of war criminals of 1971 has surfaced. This time the surviving sector commanders of the Liberation War, together with other freedom fighters who as junior officers had taken up arms and organised the fledgling Bangladesh Liberation Army and the Mukti Bahini, are in the forefront.
Their demand for trial of the Razakars, the collaborators and the war criminals is getting louder and gaining ground as each day progresses into another day. No doubt this demand sends a chill down the spines of those collaborators and their supporters who have reaped rich political harvest so far.
One may wonder why, after so many years, freedom fighters have got together and are demanding of this caretaker government to initiate action to indict the war criminals. knowing full well that this is an interim government, which may not last beyond this year. The reason is the ambience this government has created for many a genuine issue of national concern to be addressed.
No matter what the detractors may say to malign this government, it is a fact that this 10 man interim
advisory council headed by Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed has accomplished many a laudable work in a year’s time, which a 60 man jumbo cabinet of an elected government backed up by a parliament of 300 elected peoples representatives could not do in 5 years.
Who will deny that maintaining a jumbo cabinet and 300 members of parliament with their enhanced salaries and many perks and privileges, including fully furnished NAM flats allocated at a token rent of Taka 400-500 a month, and the corruption reigning supreme both inside and outside the corridors of power over a period of 5 years, have bled this poor country white?
No, we do not intend to continue with this pro-people but un-elected government for an indefinite period. But before they go, we would like this government to finish the tasks it has embarked upon. The tasks include:
•Preparing a flawless and credible voter list with photographs,
•Drawing up and putting in place democratic reforms aimed at strengthening all democratic national institutions.
Freeing our national politics from the clutches of people who have tainted themselves with ill-gotten money, who have their names listed with police stations as common criminals, robbers, murderers, rapists, toll collectors, land grabbers etc., who have amassed huge wealth and property disproportionate to their legitimate source of income, and who have been cither convicted in a court of law or
have a case, or cases, pending in a court of law on charges of corruption and other offences, criminal or civil, and
•Bringing all those people, regardless of their social status, who have looted and plundered wealth and property of the state by misusing and abusing their power and authority to justice. This is a tall order, but it is achievable given the integrity, capability and commitment of the wonderful men and women who form this advisory council.
The success of this government will largely depend not so much on the completion of the electoral roll as on effecting genuine democratic reforms, and on its ability to haul up and put on trial those political and social elites who have built fortunes at the expense of the state.
It is here, that the government will be facing, and is facing, resistance from the discredited political parties and political leaders and their business associates. Dehvars and Hannans and Zillurs sound menacing when they have the guts to say that they will not accept imposed reforms without prior consultation with major political parties, and that they would launch movements to get their party leaders released from prison.
The government will have to be tough with the discredited politicians. But you can be tough only if your feet are firmly anchored on moral high ground, and your aim is to foster genuine democracy with a vibrant and functional parliament and a responsible government accountable to the people and the media. It is in this context that the government needs to be bold and uncompromising.
The government can hardly afford to open another front at this time by brushing aside the just demand of the Sector Commanders Forum (SCF) for trial of war criminals of 1971. The government may
or may not initiate any action to try the war criminals, although there is ample documentary evidence to begin the legal process of indictment.
The government can ill-afford to deny space to the surviving war heroes and millions and millions of men and women across the country who want to see these criminals put on trial and punished, thus ending the ignominy of having to see them as political and social elites.
By not allowing the SCF to hold a planned national convention at Bangladesh-China Friendship Convention Centre on March 15, the government may have damaged its pro-people image and neutral credentials.
Some clerics in various mosques seize every opportunity to denounce our secular Bengali culture and women's liberty as anti-Islamic. They have systematically let loose tirades against our traditional celebration of Language Martyrs' Day on February 21, and of Pamela Boishakh.
Of late, they have been severely critical of the national women development policy of 2008. Let us not forget that those who oppose the trial of war criminals are also closely linked with Islamist militancy, which raised its ugly head during the last BNP-Jamaat alliance government.
The trial of war criminals of 1971 will be held in this country, cither today or tomorrow, no matter how one may try to side-track the issue. This is what truth and justice demand. This is what we as a nation owe to our martyrs who gave us freedom. Should we fail now to put the war criminals on trial, posterity will try and punish them some other day, if need be posthumously. But tried and punished they will be.
Brig. Gen Shamsuddin Ahmed is a former MJitary Secretary to the President of Bangladesh.