Alleged War Crimes: New Jamaat chief Maqbul faces enquiry

The investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal has launched an enquiry into allegations of war crimes against new Jamaat Ameer Maqbul Ahmad.

The 70-year-old Jamaat-e-Islami leader took oath as the party chief on Monday. He had been the party's acting ameer for the last six years.

The Jamaat vehemently opposed Bangladesh's Liberation War in 1971 and its subsequent independence from Pakistan.

Abdul Hannan Khan, coordinator of the investigation agency, said Maqbul's name was on the razakars' list in Feni although there were no specific allegations against him.

Two online newspapers recently ran news of two specific allegations against Maqbul, he added.

“We are now probing the allegations. If our primary investigation finds that the allegations are true, we will open a formal investigation,” said Hannan.

On Wednesday, the agency appointed a senior investigation officer for conducting the enquiry.

Meanwhile, Jamaat in a press statement claimed Maqbul was not involved in any crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

The party was banned in independent Bangladesh until it was reborn in 1979 after a political changeover.

Jamaat leaders, including its former chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, Mir Quasem Ali, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, and Abdul Quader Mollah were executed while Ghulam Azam was sentenced to 90 years in jail and Delawar Hossain Sayedee imprisonment until death for committing crimes against humanity.