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War crimes redden liberation ministry

Genocide, war crime issues ignored for years; it focuses on monument, controversial projects

Julfikar Ali Manik
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs symbolises the government's sheer politi-cal indifference to the War of Independence, the most important phase for any nation around the globe.
Formed in 2001 after the four-party alliance featuring BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami came to power, the ministry carefully ignored works on genocide and other crimes during the Liberation War, reveals an investigation by The Daily Star.
Many of its officials deemed the issue "very sensitive matter" and thought it best to turn a deaf ear to the ever-increasing demand for the trial of war criminals.
The ministry has no plan as yet to work on war crimes but it shows no lack of interest in annual rituals like the Independence Day on March 26, Victory Day on December 16 and Martyred Intellectuals Day on December 14 and also in some controversial projects.
The ministry has literally puffed away around Tk 600 crore from the revenue budget in seven years for trivial ceremonies and projects tainted with controversies.
Its ongoing and upcoming projects include building monuments for martyrs, finding killing grounds, battlefields and setting up establishments for the Muktijoddha Sangsad.
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Die projects to enlist freedom fighters, issue certificates to war heroes and publish some books on war history haw not seen the light yet but kicked up enough uproar among the people. Charges of politicisation and distortion of history, and draft ing Razakars on the Muktijoddha list haw staked heavily against the ministry.
The ministry has so far done no specific work on the nine months of genocide and war crimes that left nearly three million people killed and a quarter million women violated, let alone the planned elimination of the best Bengali brains of the soil on December 14,1971.
Anticipating sure defeat, the Pakistani occupation forces and their collaborators - Razakar. Al-Badr and AJ-Shams (mostly leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student front Islami Chhatra Shanghai - picked up leading Bengali intellectuals and professionals on that day and killed them en masse with a view to crippling the nation intellectually.
War records show Jamaat formed Razakar and Al-Badr forces to counter the freedom fighters. 'Razakar' was established by former secretary general of Jamaat Moulana Abul Kalam Mohammad Yousuf, and Badr Bahini' included the Islami Chhatra Shangha members.
Thousands of people still bear the brunt of war crimes by Jamaat and its student front (now known as Islami Chhatra Shibir), and some other groups such as Muslim League and Nizam-e Islami.
• Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid. presently Jamaat's secretary general and then head of Al-Badr in Dhaka, led the killings of the intellectuals a couple of days before independence, according to numerous research works, academic papers, accounts of both victims and collaborators, publications including newspapers and secret documents of Pakistani home department.
Study of history also shows Matiur Rahman Nizami, the incumbent Aamir of Jamaat and the then president of Islami Chhatra Shangha, was also commander-in-chief of Al-Badr.
He was quoted as saying on r’September 15,1971 byjamaiit s mouthpiece the Daily Sangram: "Everyone of us should assume the role of a soldier of an Islami country. In assistance for the poor and the oppressed, we must kill those who are engaged in war against Pakistan and Islam."
Nizami's predecessor Golam Azam was the brain behind Jamaat's anti-Liberation efforts.
Immediately after independence Golam Azam and many others like him fled to Pakistan and returned only after the brutal killing of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family in 1975.
History never lies, yet most of the Liberation War affairs ministry officials do not even feel comfortable to talk about it
"I can’t say anything in this regard. I shouldn’t talk even on the issue as being a government official," replied an official of the ministry when this correspondent wanted to know why war crime issue was left out in the cold.
"We don't have any work on war crimes and as far as 1 know the issue has never been discussed in the ministry since its inception," he confessed.
Ironically, the ministry was formed with the aim to ensure welfare of the freedom fighters and preserve history, documents, heritage and memory of the War of Independence through continuous research and documentation.
"War crime is a very crucial part of our Liberation War history and it should be documented and preserved meticulously by the ministry," said Lt General (retd) Mir Shawkat Ali, commander of Sector 5 during LiberationWar.
In January 1972, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's government passed a law to try the collaborators and war criminals. A section of people soon started to say that war criminals' trial issue turned irrelevant with granting of a general amnesty to all by the then Awami League government.
But the Collaborators Act, which was unveiled in a gazette notification on November 30, 1973, clearly states that none of the war criminals have been pardoned.
"Those who were punished for or accused of rape, murder, attempt to murder or arson will not come under general amnesty under the Section 1,” reads Section 2 of the Act.
Out of 37,000 sent to jail on charges of collaboration, about 26,000 were freed following announcement of the general amnesty.
Around 11,000 were behind bars when the government of Justice Sayem and General Zia repealed the Collaborators Act on December 31, 1975. An appeal glut and release of criminals en masse followed the scrappingofthclaw
But demands for trial of war criminals continued to shimmer at the heart of the Bangladeshis that was rekindled by the historic mass movement by Shaheed Janani Jahanara imam in the 90s.
Hie demand gained a fresh momentum when seven sector commanders of the Liberation War launched a movement backed by other sociocultural organisations during die tenure of the present caretaker government.
Mir Shawkat feels a golden opportunity to keep war criminals off the polls has been missed just because the Liberation War ministry could not identify the offenders.
"Had the ministry worked on tliis issue properly it could have helped the Election Commission to disqualify war criminals from contesting the upcoming elections," he lamented.
"The persons in three key posts in the government -- chief adviser, chief of the army staff and members of the Election Commission -- agreed this time on trial of war criminals. ”
Amidst public outcry, EC for the first time decided to debar war criminals from polls and incorporated a provision in the Representation of the People (Amendment) Ordinance, 2008.
Fhe government okayed too the provision that states "a person shall be disqualified for election as or for being, a member, if he has been convicted as a war criminal by any national or international Court or Tribunal"
But the move fell flat on its face, as the ministry made no move to identify the war criminals.
"We think trial of war criminals should be held in the international court and it is the government's responsibility to place the issue before an international court. The Liberation War ministry should take up the issue with the United Nations," observed Mir Shawkat
"How could you expect the ministry to work on war crimes when the office was formed by a coalition government in which Jamaat was a partner?" an official shot back a question to answer the reluctance of the initially 52-member ministry on war crimes.
The official added, after inception the first state minister of the ministry --1 Redwan Ahmed -- arranged a programme for freedom fighters at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel.
At the programme former BNP lawmaker and freedom fighter Maj (retd) Akhtaruzzaman proposed to prepare a list of Razakars (war criminals, who collaborated with Pakistani occupation forces), which embarrassed many including the minister, the official said.
Contacted, Akhtaruzzaman told The Daily Star Zia’s government in 1979 took an initiative to prepare a list of freedom fighters and the then BNP lawmaker Anisuzzaman Khokan suggested in parliament a list of Razakars.
"With reference to the old speech I just proposed at the programme of Liberation War ministry to prepare a list of Razakars as the ministry again started to prepare a list of freedom fighters," hesaid.
Akhtaruzzaman shoots down the idea of setting up such a ministry as he thinks it has no necessity at all.
"1 know the ministry has done nothing in this regard [war crime issue] though it is obviously its duty to keep aware generations to come about the matter," hesaid.
He added, "Though the Liberation War is the history of the birth of a nation I would say the ministry was set up with a political motive."
Some officials claim genocide and war crimes are not totally absent as the issues 'exist' on the second edition of 15-part volume of Liberation War documents published by the ministry during the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance government.
But irony is that the informa-lion ministry originally compiled and published documentary evidence of the Liberation War in 15 parts in 1982 edited by Hasan Hafizur Rahman and later the' same ministry reprinted it in 2003.
Moreover, the Liberation War ministry sparked controversy for changing some facts of history in the second edition published in2004.
The Liberation War ministry deleted the first document of the third part which was Declaration of Independence in the name of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman broadcast from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra onMarch26,1971.
Instead, it included a document stating that Major Ziaur Rahman first declared independence from 'Blplobi Betar Kendra [Chittagong]' on March 27, 1971 in which he claimed himself as the 'provisional president and commander-in-chicfof liberation army'.
The ministry then published the second document of the third part saying the second declaration of independence by
Major Ziaur Rahman from Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra on March 28, 1971 was announced on behalf of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
This document was published in the first edition mentioning the date on March 27, 1971.
Officials say as the second edition sparked controversy in 2004, the then secretary of the ministry Dr Mahbubul Alam verbally asked the officials to stop selling the volume, which was published under an about Tk5-crore project.
Following the verbal order, officials brought thousands of copies from the press and dumped those in a ministry room where the volumes are gathering dust since then.
Prof Abul Quasem Fazlul Huq of Bangla department at Dhaka University told The Daily Star: "It was Bangla Academy's decision to publish the second edition of the 15-part history of the Liberation War and I was one of those who were asked for opinions.
"I opined that the second edition must be published by Bangla Academy and nothing should be changed except spelling mistakes.
"But later this project was shifted to the Liberation War ministry, which published the second edition in such a way that it caused huge controversy. That was absolutely unfortunate."
The ministry even in its annual report in 2002 showed political biasness. In the report there is nothing about the leaders and other forefront fighters of the War of Independence. Just after the preamble there are only small pictures of the seven Bir Sreshthas in one page and a full-page colour photograph of Ziaur Rahman with a bold caption "that brave voice of Kalurghat".
The ministry's first minister Redwan in his message in the report stated that the tasks of the ministry are to write, prepare, complete and correct the history of independence war, finalise the list of real freedom fighters and do everything related to LiberationWar.
He then went on to say that "Cross-section of people of Bangladesh gave birth to a state named Bangladesh through a bloody nine; month war in 1971 in response to the historic announcement of martyr president Ziaur Rahman."
The ministry as part of its promise to do "everything related to Liberation War" also published sector-based history titled "Bangladesher Swadhinata Juddha" in 11 parts.
However, the commander of Sector 5, Lt Gen (retd) Mir Shawkat Ali. who was a major in 1971, told this correspondent none from the ministry contacted him to know anything about his sector before publishing this 11 - part history.
"Just after the book was published I collected a copy and checked whether there was my name or not in my sector," he said.
Gen Shawkat, also a former BNP lawmaker, said since inception of the ministry no officials have contacted him to get him involved with any of their activities.
Former army chief Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah, who was commander of Sector 3, echoed the same. "I don't know how the ministry has written the history of the sectors of the Liberation War. No-one from the ministry ever contacted me about anything even for writing these books."
Though the ministry has some construction projects to preserve the memories of 1971 the big twist is that it left incomplete some projects initiated by the Awami League-led govern -mentin 1996-2001. The projects include liberation monument project in Suhrawardy Udyan and Muktijoddha Smriti Complex in Mujibnagar where Bangladesh's first government was formed in April 1971.
But the ministry undertook a project in June 2003 to build Shaheed Zia Smriti Complex in Kalurghat in Chittagong and completed it by July2004.
There are many other instances of controversial work by the ministry with political biasness.
Even the ministry's biggest task of listing freedom fighters and issuing them certificates is not beyond controversy as there are grievous flaws. Nonfreedom fighters even Razakars are on the list and the wife of a dead Razakar gets allowance as the wife of a martyred freedom fighter, says a ministry official.
The ministry had formed a 12-member National Committee to prepare a 'flawless' list of freedom fighters.
Prof Sayed-Ur Rahman of Dhaka University's Bangla department, one of the members of the national committee, has admitted flaws in the list.
Prof Rahman told The Daily Star, "I saw such allegations in newspapers and also received letters in this regard when our committee was working. We tried to correct things but suddenly the committee stopped functioning in 2006 and we could not do everything."