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Agonising wait ends

Star Report
Soon after the International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday handed down the death penalty to top Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, people from a wider spectrum of society rejoiced in the streets at the verdict.
Crowds roared with the slogan "Joy Bangla" as people, who held their breath in anticipation of the judgement, burst into cheers hearing the news.
Interviewed by The Daily Star, dozens of people said the verdict not only brought a long awaited justice to the nation but also began to free it of the stigma of crimes against humanity.
Students were particularly cheerful about the verdict. “The tribunal's verdict is also people's verdict. People's frustrations have now been transformed into celebrations,” said Dhaka University student Nishat
Tasnim.
Abul Kashem, an elderly flower seller in the capital, said, “I've been following the Shahbagh movement, and I'm glad the prayers of the nation have been met. I have seen what happened during the Liberation War."
Sheikh Halima, aged about 85, can barely walk without support. She said she had come to Dhaka from Tangail four days ago to witness the Shahbagh protests before she died.
Asked who was accompanying her, she muttered, “I am here with you, the souls of the martyrs of '71, my Allah and myself.”
In broken sentences, she noted that she had seen Razakars wreck havoc in her village.
Selimul Alam Mukti, a businessman from Mirpur-12, said the success of the Shahbagh movement will come when the sentence is actually executed and all the other war criminals get the same punishment.
The movement should be intensified to achieve the target, he added.
"I will distribute 10 kg sweetmeats among people when Sayedee is executed," said an elated Anowara Begum, a woman who sells roses on the footpath.
People also refuted the suggestion that the Shahbagh movement demanding capital punishment to the war criminals influenced the tribunal.
"The verdict matches the expectations of people who waited for a long time to see Sayedee tried in a court of law. It's a coincidence that both the people's verdict and the tribunal's judgement was the same. I don't think there was any undue pressure on the tribunal from the mass people,” said Bidyut Bhowmik, a private banker.
In a similar note, NGO worker Raihan Bin Shafiq said the verdict is an achievement of the government. "But I must add that the verdict was not influenced by the popular demands. Rather, it came after the court heard depositions from many witnesses and considered the plights of manyvictims."
Families of martyrs of '71 were particularly relieved. Martyred intellectual Dhirendranath Dutta's great granddaughter Esha Aurora said, "My great grandfather was the first person to tell Muhamamd Ali Jinnah that Bangla should be our lingua franca. This verdict respects his sacrifice and of all those who wanted to see a free Bangladesh."
Twenty-four-year-old NGO
worker Afreen Khan said the verdict gave her an inexplicable sense of joy.
Calming her voice, she added that she is waiting for similar verdicts against all the other war crime suspects.