Vow to continue movement for trial of war criminals

Dhaka University (DU) students burnt an effigy of Jamaat leader Golam Azam on the campus yesterday in a symbolic execution of the verdict of a 'People's Court' that tried the war criminals on March 26 in 1992.
The students under the banner of 'Juddhaparadhider Bichar Mancha', a platform for the trial of war criminals, also burnt another effigy of an activist of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami.
Earlier, Justice Golam Rabbani read out the verdict of the People's Court near the Aparajeyo Bangla. The People's Court had sentenced top Jamaat leader Golam Azam to death on charges of war crimes during the liberation war in 1971.
The students also took an oath to fight together against the anti-liberation forces and to continue their movement until the trial of war criminals takes place in the country.
The people still support the verdict of the People's Court against some war criminals, Justice Rabbani said in his speech.
Expressing solidarity with the students' programme, acting president of Forum for Secular Bangladesh Shahriar Kabir called on the caretaker government to execute the verdict of the 'Peoples' Court'.
"The state or the government cannot avoid this responsibility," he added.
He said that all documents related to war crimes by top Jamaat leaders were collected in 1993 and that they will submit the documents to the court during the trial of war criminals at a special tribunal.
He also urged the political parties to announce that they would not form any alliance with the anti-liberation forces.
Dhaka University Teachers' Association (Duta) General Secretary Prof Anwar Hossain called on the students to forge a movement in all educational institutions in the country to realise the demand for the trial of war criminals.
He also criticised the law enforcement agencies for not arresting Shibir cadres who assaulted freedom fighter Sheikh Mohamamd Ali Aman at a programme of Jatiya Muktijoddha Parishad, a Jamaat-backed organisation.
Forum for Secular Bangladesh general secretary Kazi Mukul, Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, Prof MM Akash, Prof Sahiquzzaman, Prof Hossain Mansur, Prof Mesbah Kamal, Prof Shahidul Islam, Shahid Uddin Eskandar, Morshed Ali, and student leaders Khan Asaduzzaman Masum, Manabendra Dev and Hossain Ahmed, freedom fighters and debaters also expressed their solidarity with the programme.