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Collaborators equally guilty

Sultana Kamal tells of their role in 1971 war crimes

Staff Correspondent
Local aides of the Pakistani invaders were equally responsible for the heinous crimes committed during the Liberation War, leading rights activist Sultana Kamal told International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday.
Sultana Kamal, who also fought for independence, was deposing for the second day in the war crimes case against former Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Ghulam Azam.
She said the massacres in 1971 were worse than the Holocaust by the Nazis during World War II and Ghulam Azam played the role of a mastermind by aiding the Pakistani army.
The attacks by the Pakistani army and its collaborators
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had targeted people irrespective of their religious and national identity, believers of Bengali nationalism and freedom seekers, she observed.
In her hour-long deposi-tion, she described Operation Searchlight launched by the Pakistan army on March 25, 1971 as one of the heinous massacres in the world history.
To reinforce her argument, Sultana mentioned the killings of teachers and students of Dhaka University, burning down of Iqbal Hall, attack on Ramna Kali Mandir (temple), arson attacks in Hindu majority areas, including Shakhari Bazar, Rayer Bazar, Hatkhola and Wari and attacks on police and Bangladesh Rifles at Razarbagh Police Lines and Pilkhana respectively.
"Mass killings were being committed in similar fashion throughout the country from March 25 to December 16," she said, adding that those were not stray incidents.
"Those who extended active support and assistance to the Pakistani occupation force are equally liable for the same crimes," she observed.
Newspapers and radio were the source of information, Sultana said and added, "The Jamaat's top leader and one of the top leaders of Peace Committee Ghulam Azam was the mastermind of this support and assistance [to the invaders].
"I can recall clearly that Ghulam Azam launched a tirade against the freedom fighters and gave support to everything the Pakistani army did while he was in Lahore on August 23 and in Hyderabad on August 31, 1971. He also called upon everyone to annihilate the freedom fighters."
She told the tribunal that two members of the Jamaat were perhaps included in the cabinet of the then East Pakistan in September 1971.
"At the reception programme of the two members Ghulam Azam said the members had been included in the cabinet with the same goal as that behind the formation of the Razakar force and Peace Committee," she added.
Raising a question herself whether the peace committee took part in armed operations she said they had sometimes done so.
"It is known to everybody that Razakars possessed weapons, ” she said.
"We also observed that on December 1, 1971 when independence was imminent, even then Ghulam Azam, following a meeting with Yahya Khan, at a press conference said the freedom fighters should be brought to book and Razakars were enough for it," Sultana continued.
It revealed the loyalty of
Ghulam Azam to the Pakistan army, she pointed out.
"We witnessed the brutality of Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams through their killing of intellectuals on December 10-14 in 1971," she added.
Ghulam Azam led the philosophical and strategic planning of these forces — Peace Committee, Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams, she mentioned.
Sultana Kamal concluded her testimony with the expectation that the war criminals would be befit-tingly punished through trial.
As the prosecution asked her whether Ghulam Azam was present at the tribunal, she replied in the affirmative.
Ghulam Azam, facing 62 specific charges of crimes against humanity committed during the War, was present at the tribunal for about one and a half hours.
During cross-examination Sultana said she had submitted a copy of the ordinance relating to Razakars at the building of the tribunal in2010whenthe building was used as the office for both prosecutors and investigators.
In reply to another question the witness said she had read about the formation of the Razakar force in the Purbadesh. She, however, said she did not have a copy of that issue of the newspaper.
She also said she found the name of Motiur Rahman Nizami as the chief of Al-Badr at the beginning of the 1980s.
In response to a question from defence counsel Mizanul Islam, Sultana Kamal said she knew Nizami was in a pinnacle position of the Jamaat at the time but could not mention his party postexacdy.
Mizanul asked her whether religion-based political parties were for the oneness of Pakistan in 1971 for religious purposes.
"Yes,” she replied, adding, the Jamaat was one of those parties.
The tribunal adjourned proceedings until today.
CORRECTION
There was an error in our report on Sultana Kamal's deposition yesterday. We mentioned her brother Shahed Kamal's name regarding an occurrence in 1971. It should have been that of another of her brothers, Dr Sajed Kamal. We regret the error.