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A Political Postmortem

Death of war crimes mastermind

Mozammel H. Khan
THE mastermind of crimes against humanity, Ghulam Azam, has passed away. He was one of the most despised individuals, both in life and in death, in Bangladesh's history. Ghulam Azam not only acted against the birth of Bangladesh but also tried to undo its creation even when the newborn nation had been recognised by many countries.
His death in a hospital cell a few days ago has naturally been the prime news event. The issues debated in the news, electronic and social media after his death were whether his burial should have been allowed to be in the soil of Bangladesh and whether his janaza prayer should have been allowed to be performed in the national mosque. The criticisms, out of anger and emotion, emanated primarily from proponents of the war crimes trials, and from those who are critics of the AL and the government; yet, the latter also want the war crimes trials to continue, however paradoxical it might sound.
After every judgment, either by the ICT or by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court, if the verdict was not capital punishment, there were specu-lations about an understanding between the AL and the Jamaat. Guided either by emotional impulse and frustration or by inherent antagonism against the current ruling party, there is a tendency to discount the reality that ours is a politically polarised society where, strangely, the Liberation War is a polarising factor instead of a rallying one.
Justin Trudeau, the son of the late PM Pierre Trudeau of Canada, while addressing the nation after the recent deadly terrorist attack in Parliament Hill, said in reference to his political rivals: "We are political opponents, not enemies, in the service of our nation." As opposed to what he said, our polarised poles are deadly enemies. For instance, on the issue of war crimes trials, while one pole is bent on continuing unconditional trials, the other pole wants trials "if only the trials are transparent, of international standard," etc. It is not clear at this time which side of the divide will carry the day if there is a free and fair election today.
It sounds absolutely preposterous when the bitter critics of the government, just to place themselves on a high moral ground, make deceptive assertions such as "the whole nation wants the trials," even when the supreme leader of one pole categori-
cally says “trial is a conspiracy to throw the nation into chaos in the name of war crimes trial four decades after the general amnesty to the collaborators. The BNP has no confidence in this tribunal. It believes that in the existing legal structure, the tribunal is nothing but a servile, rubber-stamp organisation. This tribunal must be dismantled, and the convicts who are victims of political persecution must be freed." The most outrageous declaration came from a party chairperson s adviser, a defense lawyer in the trials, when he said: “If voted to power BNP would try those involved in the war crimes trials." This sends a spine-chilling warning to the prosecutors and witnesses.
Ghulam Azam had been handed 90-year jail for his role in the genocide in 1971. All the five charges, which included murder and torture of unarmed people, conspiracy, planning, incitement and complicity in genocide, were proved in the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). The gravity of Azam's offences warranted death penalty the ICT said, but stopped short of awarding it to the 91-year-old Jamaat leader considering his old age. So make no mistake, he died as a war crimes convict.
Regarding his janaza prayer in the national mosque, every Muslim citizen has that right. Ghulam Azam was given citizenship of the country, whose creation he fought tooth and nail against, by the nation’s highest court. However much we disagree with the decision, we have to respect it and as such he was entitled to the burial rites. The government rightly provided all the required security to maintain order, just like it does after the death of any convicted criminal.
It was disheartening to see that more people attended his funeral than those who gathered to express their loathing. One must take into cognisance that war crimes convict Abdul Alim's funeral reportedly attracted a big crowd, and that Saydee's son and Quader Mollah's brother have been elected upazilla and union parishad chairman, respectively, from their hometowns. Without recognition of these realities, putting all the blame squarely on the government would be unfair. The real protagonists of the trials should never undermine the fact that the AL under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina will never compromise with her resolve to bring the war crimes trials to an honourable end.
The writer Is the Convenor of the Canadian Committee for Human Rights and Democracy In Bangladesh.