BANGLADESH NEWS
The first war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh saw the first prosecution witness against Jamaat-e-Islami guru Ghulam Azam take the stand on Sunday.
Moontassiruddin Khan Mamun, better known as Moontassir Mamun and a Dhaka University history professor, who was a student of the same university in 1971 when the Liberation War broke out, said Jamaat and Muslim League factions were among the more notable supporters of the Pakistani Military junta of the time.
The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1 of Bangladesh, set up to deal crimes against humanity during the 1971 War of Independence, indicted the former Jamaat chief on May 13 on five charges including conspiracy, incitement and planning.
The witness, a 61-year historian, noted for his work on Dhaka's history and the Liberation War, said among the political leaders backing the military junta in 1971, Ghulam Azam and Nurul Amin were considered the stalwarts.
It was at the recommendation and advice of these people that the Pakistani regime proceeded to establish the Peace Committee.
This committee was known as an anti-liberation platform that actively collaborated with the Pakistani Army.
The history professor said that even in other such organisations founded during the Liberation War, like the vigilante militia outfits of Al Badr, Al Shams and Razakar, predominantly consisted of Jamaat members and its student activists because, "Of all the parties backing the military regime, Jamaat was the largest."
Mamun said that had it not been for the heinous role of these outfits, Bangladesh would not have suffered as much. "And perhaps we would have become liberated a lot sooner."
According to the historian, Rao Farman Ali, a senior Pakistani army officer working in East Pakistan in 1971, had said during an interview that the local vigilante groups harboured more hatred toward the liberation forces than even the Pakistani soldiers.
Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum, who deposed the witness, had to proceed through hiccups as he repeatedly asked 'leading' questions, which the defence promptly objected to. Even the tribunal became irritated at one point.
Malum had asked his witness Mamun whether he read the newspapers that came out regularly in 1971. Noting defence counsel Mizanul Islam's objection, Justice Huq said, "Is it at all necessary to ask that question?"
The tribunal chief then suggested that if needed the prosecutor could perhaps ask what the witness had read in the papers then. But he also indicated that this could not really go on and the tribunal could not go on prompting the prosecutor.
The tribunal had cautioned the prosecutor at the very outset that he should avoid asking leading questions.
There was also a brief spat between the prosecution and the defence when Mizanul Islam evidently lost his habitual cool saying that chief prosecutor Ghulam Arieff Tipoo's behaviour was unacceptable.
The tribunal chief requested him to cool down a few times and the senior defence lawyer was quick to go back to his calm self.
Jamaat Guru in ICT-1
On Dec 12, 2011, the prosecution brought a 52-point charter of charges against Azam and appealed for his arrest. Later, following the tribunal order, charges were re-arranged and presented to the tribunal on Jan 5.
He was produced before the tribunal on Jan 11 and sent to jail the same day. Since that evening, Ghulam Azam has been kept at the prison cell of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University for better treatment considering his delicate health.
The prosecution's numerous charges against him mainly consist of incitement, conspiracy, complicity and command responsibility for crimes against humanity. The former Jamaat chief was indicted on May 13 on five charges.
A former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Azam is allegedly among the key people who pioneered anti-liberation efforts in 1971 colluding with the Pakistani military junta of that time.
He is widely perceived to have been among core group of right-wing supporters of the Pakistani Army, who came out strongly in support of a united Pakistan.
Ghulam Azam, then chief of Jamaat, was instrumental in setting up the infamous Peace Committee at the national level. The Razakars, an auxiliary force set up mainly to actively thwart the liberation forces, are said to have been mobilised through the Peace Committees across Bangladesh.
Among the most notorious vigilante militia are the Al Badr, whose membership is said to have been mainly dominated by the Jamaat's student wing called the Islami Chhatra Sangha at that time.
The Al Badr is alleged to have spearheaded execution of the intellectual elites of Bangladesh just days before the victory on Dec 16, 1971.
Azam also spoke in favour of Pakistan to the Middle Eastern countries during the war, according to the prosecution.
He stayed in London for seven years after 1971 and returned to Bangladesh in 1978 during military strongman and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's rule. Having led Jamaat for long, Azam retired from active politics in 1999.
His party remains a key ally of the main opposition BNP. Two Jamaat leaders, also behind bars for war crimes charges, have even served as ministers during the BNP's last tenure in government between 2001 and 2006, when Azam's party was part of the ruling coalition.
Moontassiruddin Khan Mamun, better known as Moontassir Mamun and a Dhaka University history professor, who was a student of the same university in 1971 when the Liberation War broke out, said Jamaat and Muslim League factions were among the more notable supporters of the Pakistani Military junta of the time.
The three-judge International Crimes Tribunal – 1 of Bangladesh, set up to deal crimes against humanity during the 1971 War of Independence, indicted the former Jamaat chief on May 13 on five charges including conspiracy, incitement and planning.
The witness, a 61-year historian, noted for his work on Dhaka's history and the Liberation War, said among the political leaders backing the military junta in 1971, Ghulam Azam and Nurul Amin were considered the stalwarts.
It was at the recommendation and advice of these people that the Pakistani regime proceeded to establish the Peace Committee.
This committee was known as an anti-liberation platform that actively collaborated with the Pakistani Army.
The history professor said that even in other such organisations founded during the Liberation War, like the vigilante militia outfits of Al Badr, Al Shams and Razakar, predominantly consisted of Jamaat members and its student activists because, "Of all the parties backing the military regime, Jamaat was the largest."
Mamun said that had it not been for the heinous role of these outfits, Bangladesh would not have suffered as much. "And perhaps we would have become liberated a lot sooner."
According to the historian, Rao Farman Ali, a senior Pakistani army officer working in East Pakistan in 1971, had said during an interview that the local vigilante groups harboured more hatred toward the liberation forces than even the Pakistani soldiers.
Prosecutor Zead-Al-Malum, who deposed the witness, had to proceed through hiccups as he repeatedly asked 'leading' questions, which the defence promptly objected to. Even the tribunal became irritated at one point.
Malum had asked his witness Mamun whether he read the newspapers that came out regularly in 1971. Noting defence counsel Mizanul Islam's objection, Justice Huq said, "Is it at all necessary to ask that question?"
The tribunal chief then suggested that if needed the prosecutor could perhaps ask what the witness had read in the papers then. But he also indicated that this could not really go on and the tribunal could not go on prompting the prosecutor.
The tribunal had cautioned the prosecutor at the very outset that he should avoid asking leading questions.
There was also a brief spat between the prosecution and the defence when Mizanul Islam evidently lost his habitual cool saying that chief prosecutor Ghulam Arieff Tipoo's behaviour was unacceptable.
The tribunal chief requested him to cool down a few times and the senior defence lawyer was quick to go back to his calm self.
Jamaat Guru in ICT-1
On Dec 12, 2011, the prosecution brought a 52-point charter of charges against Azam and appealed for his arrest. Later, following the tribunal order, charges were re-arranged and presented to the tribunal on Jan 5.
He was produced before the tribunal on Jan 11 and sent to jail the same day. Since that evening, Ghulam Azam has been kept at the prison cell of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University for better treatment considering his delicate health.
The prosecution's numerous charges against him mainly consist of incitement, conspiracy, complicity and command responsibility for crimes against humanity. The former Jamaat chief was indicted on May 13 on five charges.
A former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, Azam is allegedly among the key people who pioneered anti-liberation efforts in 1971 colluding with the Pakistani military junta of that time.
He is widely perceived to have been among core group of right-wing supporters of the Pakistani Army, who came out strongly in support of a united Pakistan.
Ghulam Azam, then chief of Jamaat, was instrumental in setting up the infamous Peace Committee at the national level. The Razakars, an auxiliary force set up mainly to actively thwart the liberation forces, are said to have been mobilised through the Peace Committees across Bangladesh.
Among the most notorious vigilante militia are the Al Badr, whose membership is said to have been mainly dominated by the Jamaat's student wing called the Islami Chhatra Sangha at that time.
The Al Badr is alleged to have spearheaded execution of the intellectual elites of Bangladesh just days before the victory on Dec 16, 1971.
Azam also spoke in favour of Pakistan to the Middle Eastern countries during the war, according to the prosecution.
He stayed in London for seven years after 1971 and returned to Bangladesh in 1978 during military strongman and BNP founder Ziaur Rahman's rule. Having led Jamaat for long, Azam retired from active politics in 1999.
His party remains a key ally of the main opposition BNP. Two Jamaat leaders, also behind bars for war crimes charges, have even served as ministers during the BNP's last tenure in government between 2001 and 2006, when Azam's party was part of the ruling coalition.
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