A prosecution witness, whose father was killed by the Pakistan occupation army during the 1971 Liberation War at the behest of Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, now a BNP MP, said he could not recall whether he or any of his family had filed any case about the killing.
During the cross-examinations by the defence counsel, prosecution witness-28 Paritosh Kumar Palit, a retired teacher of Rangunia Radhanagar RABM High School, told the International Crimes Tribunal-1 that the army had invaded Raozan in Chittagong district after March 25 in 1971.
Slain Satish Chandra Palit, the father of the PW, used to earn his livelihood as a writer at the local Police Station Raozan helping people prepare GD and First Information Report (FIR).
Asked whether it was Wednesday on April 14, 1971, the day his father was killed as he claimed, Paritosh replied in the negative saying, “It was Thursday.”
Replying to a defence question, the PW said he could not recollect whether the occupation army swooped on their Raozan Palitpara house amid hullabaloo.
Asked who had identified their house to the occupation forces, Paritosh replied: “I can’t recall.”
During the cross-examinations, Paritosh told the tribunal that although he had kept an eye on the happenings but could not hear clearly from the hideout in a nearby bush the squabbling between the soldiers and his father before the killing episode.
Denying a defence suggestion, the PW said: “It’s not true he along with his father and family left the country for India long before April 14, 1971.”
The BNP stalwart faces 23 counts of charges under different provisions of section 3 (2) of the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973.
The charges include genocide in collaboration with Pakistan occupation army, killing, extermination of Hindu minority groups, deportation, persecution and abduction in Chittagong district.
With the detained accused in the dock, senior defence counsel Ahsanul Huq Hena cross-examined Paritosh.
Source: UNB Connect
The Pakistan Army had expressed orders to kill all Hindus in 1971. Siddiq Salik in his book “Witness to Surrender’ records Gen. Niazi asking a soldier ” how many Hindus have you killed today?”. To even imagine that these fanatical killers have never been punished, and went on to lead respectable lives, is a slap on the very face of civilized behaviour. We have seen the partners in crime of these blood thirsty murderers- the Rajakars went on to serve as ministers in Bangladesh. We see the remnants of these lackeys, calling the shots today, and destroy more 400 temples in the past couple of months. Until, these traitors and killers are brought to justice, the departed souls of 3 million slaughtered Bengalis and the slain gentleman in this story Satish Palit, will not be at rest.