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Subhan, his cohorts killed 3 in Pabna

Witness tells war crimes tribunal

Staff Correspondent
An eyewitness yesterday testified that Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdus Subhan and his cohorts had stabbed the witness's three relatives to death in Ishwardi upazila of Pabna during the Liberation War in 19 71.
ATM Shahidujaman Nasim, a freedom fighter of the upazila, said he had seen from a hideout that Subhan first stabbed Nasim's maternal uncle and brother-in-law, following which his cohorts hacked the duo dead.
The accomplices also killed Nasim's
nephew the same way.
First witness in Subhan's case, Nasim told the International Crimes Tribunal-2 that he had heard Subhan had the Pakistan army kill around 5,000 people in Ishwardi during the nine-month war.
The 61-year-old former student leader became emotional several times narrating the brutal killing of his relatives and the atrocities committed by the Pakistan army and their collaborators in Pabna. Nasim, now a local journalist, yesterday identified Subhan at the dock, as he concluded the almost two-hour testimony against the Jamaat leader.
Subhan is now facing nine charges of crimes against humanity and genocide that he allegedly committed during the war.
Defence counsel Mizanur Islam yesterday asked the witness only two questions before the three-member tribunal led by Justice Obaidul Hassan with member justices Md Mozibur Rahman Miah, and Md Shahinur Islam adjourned the case proceedings.
Nasim is to be cross-examined further today.
The witness said as a Chhatra Union leader, he had taken part in the 11-pont movement in 1968-69. In 1971, he was an SSC candidate and leader of Ishwardi Chhatra Sangram Parishad.
He said that on March 25, 1971, the Pakistan army had swooped on Pabna Police Lines, but soon retreated in the face of resistance from the police and locals. On the 29th, the locals killed several Pakistani army personnel, including a major.
Pabna was free until April 10, 1971, said Nasim, adding that the following day the Pakistan army returned and unleashed violence on their way to Pabna Sadar. They set up camps in different places of the district.
Shaken up by the brutality, Nasim took shelter in Ishwardi Kendriyo Jame Masjid where around 200 people, including his maternal uncle Moazzem Hossain, bother-in-law Matleb Ahmed Khan and nephew Nazmul Haque Khan Helal, had already taken refuge.
Nasim said his brother-in-law and others had requested him to leave the mosque since he directly resisted the Pakistan army in Pabna. But, the freedom fighter decided to spend the night there.
The next afternoon, Imam of the mosque announced that the army and |pro-Pakistani] leaders would visit the mosque. Before the Asr prayers (around 5:00pm), Subhan did come there and said his prayers.
"When done, he [Subhan] announced that the Pakistan army and local leaders would come there to test the Iman [faith] of the refugees, and that they would detain those who failed the test. He said,
'Work for Pakistan with Iman, and there won't be any problem,"' Nasim testified.
The next day, after Fajr prayers, Nasim secretly went back home. His house was almost seven kilometres from the mosque.
"But my parents asked me to bring my brother-in-law and nephew from Ishwardi," said Nasim. Although fully aware of the risk, he on April 17 got on a bicycle and secretly reached the eastern side of the mosque.
Nasim said near the mosque, he had seen some Bihari people and a car by which Subhan had come to say his prayers the other day.
"After some time, I saw Maulana Subhan and his Jamaat accomplices Khoda Box, Ismail, Abdul Hamid alias Hares Uddin, Ishaq Ali and Abdur Rakib enter the mosque and drag my uncle out," added Nasim.
He said they had taken his uncle near a coal depot, about 300-foot from where Nasim was hiding. Several Bihari men wielded with rifles and swords followed Subhan and his accomplices.
"I saw Maulana Subhan Shaheb fold his panjabi sleeves, and someone passing him a sword. He hacked my uncle with the sword," said Nasim, adding that Subhan’s cohorts then stabbed his uncle to death.
Witnessing the killing, Nasim returned home, but his parents kept urging him to bring his brother-in-law and nephew back home. So, he went to the mosque again the followingday.
This time too, he found Subhan and his accomplices there.
"From behind a bush in the mosque's backyard, I saw Maulana [Subhan] and his cohorts taking my brother-in-law and nephew to the coal depot. At first, Subhan stabbed my brother-in-law with a sword and then his cohorts started using their swords indiscriminately on the two until they died," said an emotion-choked Nasim.
After the incident, he went to India. He took training there to fight with the Pakistan army and avenge the deaths of his relatives.
Nasim said he on his return had heard a rumour that Subhan and Motiur Rahman Nizami, another war crimes accused, had fled to Pakistan and that Subhan in collusion with the Pakistan army had killed around 5,000 people of Ishwardi during the war.