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Stop exploiting religion in politics before nat'l polls

Demands Nirmul Committee

Staff Correspondent
Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee yesterday called on the Election Commission to stop political parties from exploiting religion in campaigns ahead of the next parliamentary election.
The 1972 constitution, written in the light of the spirit of Liberation War, forbade the use of religion as a political tool, said Shahriar Kabir, president of the forum that has been waging a campaign for trial of war criminals.
Following the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Maj Cen Ziaur Rahman rehabilitated those who had opposed liberation and formed religionbased parties to enter the political arena of the newly-independent nation.
All that was done in the name of establishing multiparty democracy, said Shahriar at a discussion organised at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh to mark the 24th death anniversary of Shaheed Janani Jahanara Imam.
Twenty-seven years ago, a national movement came into being under the leadership of Jahanara Imam demanding trial of war criminals and banning of fundamental and communal politics. Though the country has seen war criminals brought to justice, the Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee still has a long journey to make to rip out the roots of communalism.
Young generations should be engaged in this to give momentum to the movement, Shahriar added.
The committee like previous years organised the discussion and gave Jahanara Imam Memorial Awards to lyricist Prof Hasan Azizul Haque and Dhaka Community Hospital Trust, commemorating Jahanara Imam on the occasion of her death anniversary.
Many sacrifices had been made to achieve an independent Bangladesh, said Hasan Azizul Haque.
"We could not taste democracy for a single day," he said, during the 24-year rule by the Pakistan government. Ironically, Bangladesh followed in the footstep of Pakistan just three years into its independence; some army officers brutally killed the then president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and leaders of the Liberation War.
Still, the immediate government instead of punishing the killers awarded them, ProfAzizul added.
Speaking as the chief guest, Health and Family Welfare Minister Mohammed Nasim reminisced about the symbolic war crimes trial led by Jahanara Imam.
The BNP-Jamaat-led government brought chaiges of treason against Jahanara. At last, Nasim said, "The trial became a reality because of the leadership ofSheikh Hasina."
This time also it would be a grave mistake if antiliberation forces come to power, Nasim said.