Court punish perpetrators of crimes during 1971 war of liberation
Bangdladeshi civil society is in turmoil over the light punishment handed down by its International Crime Tribunal to one of the worst war criminal Abdul Kadar Mollah who is a prominent leader of Jamaat-e-Islami. Anguished over the Tribunal’s failure to sentence Mollah found guilty of mass murders, rapes, persecution and forcible conversions of Hindus to death (he was sentenced to imprisonment for 15 years), a group of bloggers got together to call upon the people to hold street protests. The first to respond were the Dhaka university students who took out a march to the Shahbagh square.
That set the tone for the liberal non-communal elements – academics, professionals, artists, authors, film personalities, TV anchors, journalists and of course, students – who have thronged the square for more than a month. Propelled by social media, the youth assembled at the square day after day in their thousands to give birth to what is now known as Shahbagh movement. Passionate protesters raise slogans demanding death to war criminals, sang songs and made motivational speeches demanding a ban on Jamaat and other radical groups. “One nation, one roar, hang the bloody razakars”, reads one of the banners at the square. Razakars are the traitors who betrayed the nation in 1971 by siding with Pakistani occupation forces that perpetrated inhuman atrocities on the freedom fighters and innocent citizens. Hundreds of thousands are believed to have been killed during the nine month war against Pakistan. Bangladesh has been haunted by terrible instances of atrocities committed by Punjabi-dominated Pakistani army and its collaborators. After coming to power with a huge majority in 2008, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina set up a war crime tribunal as promised in Awami League’s election manifesto. Three leaders of the Jamaat have already been convicted and several others are facing trial. Radicals’ shadow over country’s polity has subverted democracy and shrunk freedoms. The nation’s secular and liberal forces are now vigorously contesting this.
The Shahbagh movement is now fast emerging as a broad-based movement for a moderate and non-communal Bangladesh. If the movement sustains the momentum, it will drastically change the character of Bangladesh that has for long been perceived as a hot-bed of Islamic terrorism. Youth fired by the memory of sacrifices made by students for the historic battle for recognition of Bangla as one of the state languages have joined the movement to give it a big boost. East Pakistan Students League founded by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had launched the language agitation within months of the partition of India in 1947 that received massive support from all sections of the society, including Bangali civil servants, academics and students. A bitter struggle in which countless students laid down their lives culminated in the acceptance of the demand by the-then Pakistan Government in 1952. A massive crowd led by the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assembled at the Shahid Minar on February 21 this year to pay homage to the martyrs. A new dimension was added to the movement against fundamentalism. Will Bangladesh win the battle for its soul?
Meanwhile, Bangladesh is in the grip of a violent agitation by pro-Pakistan Islamist groups. They unleashed violence on a massive scale in northern parts of the country that has so far claimed 84 plus lives, including half a dozen policemen, in clashes between marauding crowds and security forces. Initially, it was a counter to the mass movement demanding death sentence to Mollah. The violence escalated after the ICT handed down death sentence to another Jamaat leader Delawar Hussain Sayedee. Radicals’ response was a call for two day general strike that was promptly supported by its ally – Bangladesh Nationalist Party led by Begam Khaleda Zia. Violent cadres of Jamaat and its student wing, Islami Chhattra Shibir, went on rampage. Several thousand strong armed mob attacked a police post, beat to death three policemen and set fire to the post. Hundreds of vehicles were vandalized on highways and railway trains were attacked and burnt.
The army was called in as the law and order situation worsened. So far 84 plus persons, including half a dozen policemen have lost their lives in clashes. Several hundred others have been injured, many of them critically. Pakistani media reports say there were gun fights between Chhattra Shibir activists and the security forces at several places. Bangladesh High Court recently ordered the Government to provide security to the minority Hindu community amidst reports that at least five temples and 36 Hindu houses were burnt down by extremists in Noakhali district in just three days. Moderate Islamic strain represented by Awami League. Sheikh Hasina Government is now pressing forward to fight these forces and is also contemplating banning political activities of these groups. The Hindu minority in Bangladesh has been subjected to horrendous atrocities at the hands of radical Islamists for too long. Hindus of India are in solidarity with moderate masses of Bangladesh who have now demonstrated their intent to get rid their nation of vicious fundamentalism, anti-Hindu violence and a culture of cover ups of grave crimes committed by Islamic hardliners.
New Delhi has all along tried to maintain cordial relations with Khaleda Zia when she was the Prime Minister as well as now when she is the leader of the opposition in Parliament. Her graceless move to cancel her meeting with President Pranab Mukherjee during latter’s recent state visit to Bangladesh has once again exposed her hostility to India and her soft corner for radical Islam. Her conduct is in sharp contrast to the hospitality she was extended by the Indian Government during her visit to Delhi.
The President went ahead with his state visit despite the turmoil in the host country and is believed to have conveyed to the hosts that inclusive political processes and maintenance of communal peace and harmony were imperative. In the statement issued at the conclusion of his visit, President Mukherjee significantly called for protection of rights and lives of minorities (read Hindus and Budhists). New Delhi needs to follow this up vigorously if the increasingly communal nature of violence unleashed by radicals is not to lead yet another exodus of Hindus from Bangladesh. There are disturbing reports that many Hindus targeted by radicals have already crossed over to India. Such a situation is fraught with grave consequences.
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