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Jamaat used religion to commit genocide

Shahriar Kabir tells war crimes tribunal during cross-examination

Staff Correspondent
Eminent war crimes researcher Shahriar Kabir yesterday told International Crimes Tribunal-2 that Jamaat-e-Islami had committed genocide and crimes
against humanity in the name of religion during the Liberation War in 1971.
The party's charter was at variance with the constitution of the country, as it did not believe in people's sovereignty, said Shahriar Kabir during his cross-
examination in the war crimes case against Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed.
The prominent writer and journalist is the first prosecution witness in the case.
He said Ghulam Azam, another accused of war crimes and former ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, had regretted his actions in favour of the Language Movement afterwards.
Defence counsel Mizanul Islam
SEE PAGE 19 COL 4
FROM PAGE 20 cross-examined Shahriar for two and a half hours and asked over 70 questions, mostly on the Jamaat and its former chief Ghulam Azam.
The tribunal yesterday witnessed a heated situation in the courtroom when half a dozen defence counsels reacted angrily over a comment made by the witness.
While giving his testimony on August 26, Shahriar appealed to the tribunal to try the Jamaat-e-Islami and its associate forces alongside the top leaders of these organisations for crimes against humanity during the LiberationWar.
Yesterday, during the cross-examination, he said the party had played a vital role in turning Pakistan into an Islamic Republic although it was not in power between 1947 and 1970. Pakistan became an Islamic Republic through the constitution of 1956.
“The Jamaat did not make any statement against the Language Movement when the movement was on,” said the defence counsel.
Shahriar, who is also executive president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, agreed with the defence on this point.
Responding to another question, Shahriar said the Dhaka University Students' Union had demanded that Bangla be made one of the state languages of Pakistan when it handed over a citation to Muhammad Ali Jinnah in 1948.
“It was Ghulam Azam, the then general secretary of the Dhaka University Students' Union, who read out the citation (at the meeting],’’ said defence counsel Mizanul.
"Yes, but he later regretted his involvement with the
movement," replied Shahriar.
“Do you have any footage or audio clips of Ghulam Azam regretting his involvement? asked Mizanul.
“There was no opportunity for taking video footage then. What a stupid question!" Shahriar replied. The defence vehemently objected to the comment. Most among the team rose from their seats and started shouting in the courtroom angrily.
The prosecution counsels also were on their feet. The courtroom took a chaotic turn with both sides shouting for around five minutes, until the court intervened.
The witness and the defence later apologised to the court for such a situation.
Shahriar continued, “There was no opportunity for video recording then and I don't know whether there is any audio clip of Ghulam Azam's speech. It was published in then newspapers and is also in the writings of Badruddin Umar, chief researcher of the Language Movement.”
“Can you tell us when and where Ghulam Azam delivered his speech?” the defence asked.
The witness replied that he needed to go through Badruddin Umar's book.
The defence then asked if Shahriar knew which newspaper had published Ghulam Azam's speech.
“As far as I can remember, Badruddin Umar quoted the event from Daily Azad," answered Shahriar.
At this, Mizanul Islam said the witness' claim about Ghulam Azam' s speech was a part of his “continuous propaganda against the Jamaat-e-Islami and its leaders".
Shahriar denied the defence's claim just saying,
“It is not true.”
“Haven't you and your organisation been waging a movement to ban the Jamaat-e-Islami and other parties formed on the basis of religious values,” asked Mizanul.
"We have been moving against politics by fundamentalists, communalists and peddlers of religion. Religion is sacred to us and it should not be contaminated with politics. The Jamaat committed genocide and crimes against humanity in the name of religion in 1971,” replied Shahriar.
He said the Nirmul Committee did not move against any political parties that believed in communism. Such a movement would go against the constitution and the spirit of the LiberationWar. The communists also participated in the war of liberation in 1971, he added.
Replying to another question, he said, "We have verbally urged the Election Commission not to register the Jamaat-e-Islami as a political party because we think the party is comprised of killers and war criminals and does not obey Bangladesh's constitution.”
The defence then asked Shahriar whether Jamaat lawmakers had violated the constitution when they took their oath as per the constitution in 1991, 1996, 2001 and 2008.
“I think they violated the constitution by taking the oath and this is its political hypocrisy, as according to its charter, the Jamaat-e-Islami is against Article 7 of the constitution,” said Shahriar, adding that the constitution speaks about people's sovereignty which the Jamaat didn't believe in.
Jamaat Ameer Motiur
Rahman Nizami and Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed had become ministers in 2001 after taking oath as per constitution, said Mizanul. Then he asked the witness, "Did they work against the constitution?”
“I do not think they [Nizami and Mojaheed] worked in compliance with the constitution, as their behaviour towards me after my arrest (during the BNP-led coalition government] does not go with the oath they had taken,” said the witness.
The defence then asked whether the colleagues of Nizami and Mojaheed had violated the constitution.
“No, because the BNP is not an anti-constitutional party as Jamaat is," said Shahriar.
Counsel Mizanul also asked whether the main principles of the constitution were changeable.
“No,” was Shahriar's answer.
The three-member tribunal headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir adjourned the proceedings a few more questions later. The cross-examination of Shahriar Kabir will resume today.
Meanwhile, the same tribunal recorded the cross-examination of Amir Hossain Mollah, the ninth prosecution witness in the war crimes case against another Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah.
The tribunal adjourned the case proceedings until September 10.
In his testimony on August 26, Amir Hossain, a wounded freedom fighter, said Quader Mollah along with then Pakistani army killed around 400 people of Alubdi near Mirpur in the capital on April 24,1971.