No war criminals in Bangladesh

Convicted war criminal Jamaat-e-Islam Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed six years ago had claimed that there were no war criminals in Bangladesh.
Flanked by his party colleagues and the now convicted war criminals Delawar Hossain Sayedee, Muhammad Kamaruzzaman, Abdul Quader Mollah, and suspected war criminals Abdus Subhan and ATM Azharul Islam, he attended a meeting with the Election Commission regarding electoral reforms on October 25, 2007.
When journalists asked him about the growing demand for declaring the anti-liberation forces and war criminals disqualified from contesting the national elections, Mojaheed had said, “The constitution does not support the demand. Besides, there are no war criminals in Bangladesh. It is the imaginary and self-created bizarre idea of those talking about war crimes… there are no anti-liberation forces in Bangladesh.”
Asked about Jamaat's role in 1971 Liberation War, he had counter asked the reporters to investigate it themselves. About war crimes accusations against them, Mojaheed had said, “These accusations are all false and ill-motivated.”
The Awami League-led grand alliance won the national elections in 2008 and as per their electoral pledge it set up an International Crimes Tribunal on March 25, 2010 to try war criminals. In 2012, it set up another tribunal for expeditious trial.
Mojaheed's statements were proven wrong when Abul Kalam Azad -- expelled Jamaat leader -- aka Bachchu Razakar was the first of the lot to be sentenced with the capital punishment for crimes against humanity and genocide.
Quader Mollah's verdict followed soon after, and was awarded life imprisonment.
Jamaat's former chiefs Nayeb-e-Ameer Sayedee and Assistant Secretary General Kamaruzzaman were next in line, both given the death penalty, while former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam received a total of 90 years of imprisonment on Monday.
Contrary to Mojaheed's statements, Tribunal-2 in its verdict in Kamaruzzaman's case observed that Jamaat-e-Islami was pro-active in its mission to wipe out the Bangladeshi nation in the name of shielding Pakistan in collaboration with the Pakistan army.
The Tribunal found that the party was behind the formation of Al-Badr -- the force infamous for planning the killing of Bangladeshi intellectuals and professionals. It also said that Al-Badr was an “action section” and “armed wing” of Jamaat and that it was formed constituting mainly of the workers of its student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, of which Mojaheed was a top leader.
Mojaheed was the latest to be convicted on charges of war crimes during the Liberation War in 1971, despite his claims nearly six years back. He was given the capital punishment by the International Crimes Tribunal-2 yesterday, after five out of seven charges against him were proved beyond reasonable doubt.
He had served as the technocrat minister, despite wide criticism within the whole nation, under the BNP-led government in between 2001 to 2006     with Jamaat being its key ally at the time.
Abdus Subhan and ATM Azharul Islam were jailed. The investigation agency has already found evidence against Azhar being involved in the war crimes, while Subhan's case was still under investigation.
Jamaat-e-Islami was listed as a registered political party on November 14, 2008.
Bangladesh Tariqat Federation's Secretary General Rezaul Haque Chandpuri and 24 others had filed a writ petition on January 25, 2009, which said that Jamaat-e-Islam was a religion-based political party and does not believe in independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh, demanding a ban on Jamaat and communal politics.
The High Court will deliver its verdict soon regarding this writ petition as it has already completed its proceedings.