The Bangladesh Collaborators (Special Tribunals) Order 1972 was
promulgated to bring to trial those Bangladeshis who collaborated with
and aided the Pakistan Armed forces during the Liberation War of 1971.[32]
There are conflicting accounts of the number of persons brought to
trial under the 1972 Collaborators Order, ranging between 10,000 and
40,000.[33]
At the time, the trials were considered suspect by local and external
observers, as they appear to have been used for carrying out political
vendettas. R. MacLennan, a British MP who was an observer at the trials,
said, "In the dock, the defendants are scarcely more pitiable than the
succession of confused prosecution witnesses driven (by the 88-year old
defence counsel) to admit that they, too, served the Pakistan government
but are now ready to swear blind that their real loyalty was to the
government of Bangladesh in exile."[34]
The Bangladeshi government issued a general amnesty on November 30,
1973, applying to all persons except those who were punished or accused
of rape, murder, attempted murder, or arson.[33] The Collaborators Order 1972 was revoked in 1975.
The International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 was promulgated to
prosecute any persons, irrespective of nationality, accused of
committing crimes against peace, crimes against humanity, war crimes,
"violations of any humanitarian rules applicable in armed conflicts laid
out in the Geneva Conventions of 1949" and "any other crimes under international law".[35]
Detainees held under the 1972 Collaborators order, who were not
released by the general amnesty of 1973, were going to be tried under
this Act. However, no trials were held. All activities related to the
Act ceased after the assassination of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
There are no known instances of criminal investigations or trials
outside of Bangladesh of alleged perpetrators of war crimes during the
1971 war. Initial steps were taken by the Greater London Metropolitan Police to investigate individuals resident in the United Kingdom who were alleged to have committed war crimes, as shown in a Channel 4 documentary film aired in 1995. To date, no charges have been brought against these individuals.[36]
Sunday, 10 March 2013
See also: 1971 Bangladesh atrocities and Razakars (Bangladesh)
In 1971 Bangladesh was a part of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and
was called "East Pakistan," as its easternmost province. In the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, East Pakistan fought against West Pakistan for nine months. During this period, in addition to providing guerrilla training to the freedom fighters, popularly known as Mukti Bahini, India
joined the war on December 3, 1971 in support of East Pakistan. Armed
conflict ended on December 16, 1971 and resulted in the formation of The Peoples Republic of Bangladesh as a free, secular and independent state.According to a Nixon administration telegram between United States officials, many atrocities had been committed by the West Pakistan army and their supporters.[24][25][26] Time reported a high-ranking U.S. official as saying, "It is the most incredible, calculated killing since the days of the Nazis in Poland."[27] Estimates are that one to three million people were killed, nearly a quarter of a million women were raped, and more than 10 million people fled to India for refuge to escape persecution.[28][29]
A paramilitary force called Razakars was created during the struggle under the Razakar Ordinance promulgated in May 1971 by the Governor of East Pakistan, Lieutenant General Tikka Khan. The Ordinance stipulated the creation of a voluntary force to be trained and equipped by the Provincial Government.[30] The term razakar (Bengali: রাজাকার) comes from رضاکار razākār, the Urdu word for "volunteer". However, the word became a derogatory term in the Bengali language due to the violence and atrocities committed by the paramilitary force during the war. The perpetrators of the crimes were never brought to trial, as Bangladesh needed to bargain with Pakistan for the return of 200,000 Bengalis stranded in Pakistan at the end of the war.[31]
The majority of East Pakistanis supported the call to create a free and independent Bangladesh during the Liberation War. But a small number of pro-Pakistanis, as well as members of a number of different fundamentalist political parties, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) and its student wing Islami Chatra Sangha (ICS, Bengali: ইসলামী ছাত্র সঙ্ঘ Islami Chhatro Shônggho), Muslim League, Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP) Council Muslim League, Nejam-e-Islami joined and collaborated with the Pakistani army to resist the formation of independent Bangladesh. The students belonging to Islami Chatra Sangha were called the Al-Badr force, the people belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim League, Nizam-e-Islami, etc. were called Al-Shams and the Urdu-speaking people, generally known as Bihari, were called.
editor_tahmidkhan
The sentence led to widespread discontent, as protesters called it lenient. Critics started protests and demonstrations at Shahbag intersection in central Dhaka, where they demanded the death penalty for Molla and the deradicalisation of politics.[10][11] Bloggers and online activists called for further mass demonstration at Shahbag intersection.[12][13] Thousands of people joined the demonstration, and the demonstration has given rise to the 2013 Shahbag protests.[14]
Since the start of protests, tens of thousands of people have been holding day-and-night vigils at Shahbag. They say they refuse to leave until all those convicted of war crimes are sentenced to capital punishment.[15] A counter protest, demanding release of the convicted and accused persons, was launched by Jamaat-e-Islami, as most of the accused were their political leaders. Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) had initially expressed its support for Jamaat-e-Islami, a principal political ally.[16] However, the BNP later cautiously welcomed the Shahbag Protest, warning that the government shouldn't be allowed to draw political mileage from the movement that is demanding capital punishment for war criminals.[17]
During the protests, Ahmed Rajib Haider, a protester and blogger critical of Jamaat-e-Islami, was killed.[18][19] On March 2, five Jamaat-Shibir (Shibir being the student wing of Jamaat) activists were arrested who confessed connection to the killing of the blogger Rajib.[20][21][22] However, Ahmed Rajib Haider commonly known as thaba baba was also accused for using vulgar words against the prophet Muhammad [pbuh] in his Facebook post which got banned and it was said that this blasphemous writing was the most prominent cause of his gruesome homicide.
On February 27, 2013 the tribunal convicted Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, also of Jamaat, of war crimes and sentenced him to death. Members of Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chatra Shibir (ICS) launched violent protests, attacking police and journalists, smashing public vehicles and setting off Molotov cocktails. This resulted in the deaths of about 60 people, most of them Jamaat-Shibir activists, along with police and civilians
Monday, 4 March 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)