Nizami was involved in Pabna mass killing
Under Motiur Rahman Nizami's leadership, the Pakistan army and its local collaborators raided three villages in Pabna and killed at least 450 people on May 14, 1971, a prosecution witness said yesterday.
Jamal Uddin, a freedom fighter from Sathia upazila and the 17th prosecution witness in Jamaat Ameer Nizami's case, told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that the mass killing took place following a meeting in the first part of May 1971, which was attended by Jamaat men and addressed by Nizami.
During his testimony, 60-year-old Jamal, a former deputy commander of Sathia upazila Muktijoddha Sangsad, said he took part in several operations in Faridpur, Bera, Bhangura, Shahjadpur and Sathia during the Liberation War and had apprehended several razakars.
“As a group commander of freedom fighters, I learnt from detained razakar and Al-Badr men that the crimes committed in Sathia and other places in Pabna were commissioned and directed by Motiur Rahman Nizami,” said Jamal.
In the first part of May 1971, Nizami, who was a leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha, the then student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, held a meeting with Jamaat men at Rupshi Government Primary School where Nizami urged them to form the Al-Badr force.
“I learnt about this [meeting] from Ainul Haque, the headmaster of the school, and Shamsul Rahman alias Nannu,” said Jamal.
“Following the meeting and in the morning of May 14 [1971], the Pakistani army, local razakar and Al-Badr men raided Rupshi, Demra, Bausgari villages under the leadership of Nizami and shot 450 people dead,” he said.
They torched 200-300 houses, looted houses of their valuables, mainly of the Hindus, and raped women, he added.
On November 12, 1971, the Pakistani army and members of its auxiliary forces -- the Razakar and Al-Badr -- led by Nizami went to Haria village to apprehend freedom fighter Zahurul Haque. Failing to find Zahurul, they set fire to the houses of the Hindus of the village and raped two Hindu women there, said Jamal.
On November 27, 1971, three to four groups of freedom fighters, including Jamal's group, were beside Dhulauri village, said Jamal.
Learning about the presence of the freedom fighters, the Pakistani army, Razakar and Al-Badr men led by Nizami surrounded them around 3:00am (on November 28) and shot nine freedom fighters and 14 others dead, he said.
When the Pakistan army and its collaborators were returning from Dhulauri that day, they apprehended Samad, a student of Edward College, who had a grenade in his possession. They took him to Sathia Police Station where Samad was brutally killed, said Jamal, adding that they even cut off Samad's genitals.
Jamal said he learnt from freedom fighters Nizam Uddin, Abdul Latif, Lokman Hossain and Ramich Uddin that Nizami was present during the brutal killing.
Jamal said Shahjahan Ali, a freedom fighter and a victim of the attack, was still alive. He said from Shahjahan he had learnt that one Sattar Razakar had slit Shahjahan's throat on the bank of the Ichhamati river as per Nizami's instructions but Shahjahan miraculously survived.
He said in December 2000, the local administration led by then state minister for information Prof Abu Sayeed recovered human skulls and bones from a ditch beside the home of Megha Thakur at Karmaza in Bera upazila of Pabna.
People present during the recovery said the Pakistan army and Razakars, led by Nizami, had killed nine people while raiding Megha Thakur's house in May 1971, and two women were also raped, said Jamal.
The three-member tribunal led by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir recorded Jamal's testimony and a part of his cross-examination before adjourning the case proceedings until today when he will face further cross-examination.
Nizami, a former minister of the last BNP-led government, is facing 16 charges of crimes against humanity and genocide at the tribunal.
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