Try war criminals for nation's better future

Freedom fighters yesterday renewed their demand for the trial of the war criminals.
A better future cannot be ensured unless the war criminals are tried, said Sector Commanders Forum chief Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandker, Bir Uttam, at a reunion of freedom fighters of sectors-3, 4 and 5 in Sylhet.
He called upon the caretaker government to constitute an enquiry commission to probe war crimes and prepare a list of Al-Badr and Razakar members and then try them at a special tribunal.
He said Sector Commanders Forum and freedom fighters would raise the issue through a national conference on March 15 in the capital.
The forum of the sector commanders of the Liberation War and Sylhet District Muktijoddha Sangsad jointly organised the reunion at Government Alia Madrasa ground in the city.
The sector commanders and the attending freedom fighters visited the martyred intellectuals' mass grave and the Central Shaheed Minar in Sylhet city and placed floral wreaths as their homage to the martyrs of the Language Movement and the Liberation War.
The daylong programme featured a views-exchange discussion with students and a cultural function.
Speakers at the first session of the discussion said a process for the trial of the war criminals and collaborators began after independence, but it was stalled after Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated in 1975.
They criticised successive governments for not taking any initiative to try the war criminals and rather giving privileges to those who acted against the country and the nation during the Liberation War.
Sector-3 Commander Maj Gen (retd) KM Shafiullah, Bir Uttam, said the trials of war criminals are going on in 31 countries of the world. "It is possible in Bangladesh, too, and the caretaker government should start the process," he said.
The Election Commission should bar the war criminals from contesting the national elections. The political parties also should not give nomination to war criminals, Shafiullah added.
Sector-4 Commander Maj Gen (retd) CR Dutta, Bir Uttam, asserted that the freedom fighters will continue to raise their demand for the trial of the war criminals until it is fulfilled.
Sector-5 Commander Lt Gen (retd) Mir Shawkat Ali, Bir Uttam, said freedom fighters should stay united for the cause of the nation.
"We may have political differences, but there should be no compromise on the trial of the war criminals, which is a must to free the country from polluted politics," he said.
Sector-8 Commander Lt Col (retd) Abu Osman Chowdhury, former minister and civil administrator of Sylhet region during the Libearation War Dewan Farid Gazi, Lt Col (retd) Nurunnabi Khan, Bir Bikram, Sector Commanders Forum Coordinator Maj Gen (retd) Masudur Rahman, Dr Sarwar Ali, Dr MA Hasan and cultural activist M Hamid also spoke at the session.
Among the freedom fighters from Sylhet division, former lawmaker Inam Ahmed Chowdhury, Bir Protik, Sirajul Haque, Sirajul Islam, Bir Protik, Ali Amjad, Haji Nurul Amin, Goura Prasad Roy, Badsha Miah, Hushiar Ali and Mashuk Uddin Ahmed also addressed the session chaired by district Muktijoddha Sangsad Commander Subrata Chakravarty Jewel.