Several secular pressure groups in Bangladesh have termed ‘historic’ the decision to confiscate all movable and immovable assets of those convicted of assassinating Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and committing war crimes.
Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Sector Commanders’ Forum and Ganajagaran Mancha, which have been demanding the confiscation along with death penalty for all war criminals, reacted to the decision after Parliament passed a motion on it on Thursday.
International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) counsel Tureen Afroz also welcomed the decision.
Freedom fighters flash victory sign in front of Kashimpur Central Jail in Gazipur after the hanging of war criminal Mir Quasem Ali. Photo: asif mahmud ove
Five top leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and one of BNP have so far been hanged for the crimes against humanity they committed during the 1971 Liberation War against Pakistan. Some others have been jailed.
Of the 12 convicted assassins of the Bangabandhu, five have been executed. Six others are still on the run while the seventh died in Zimbabwe in 2001 while hiding there.
In reaction to Parliament’s decision, SCF General Secretary Harun Habib told bdnews24.com: “The Parliament of Bangladesh has made a historic decision today.”
He said the war criminals and the Bangabandhu’s killers were ‘linked’ because all of them ‘believe in the spirit of Pakistan’.
“The war criminals still dream of establishing another East Pakistan on Bangladesh’s soil. They should be stripped of all their assets.”
Ganajagaran Mancha Spokesperson Imran H Sarker addressing the solidarity rally at Shahbag on Friday.
Habib added Parliament’s decision to act against them has proved that Bangladesh is moving forward in the spirit of the Liberation War.
Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee Vice President Shyamoli Nasrin Chowdhury, who lost her husband during the 1971 war, said, they were ‘very happy’ at the decision.
“Now, the sooner the law is passed, the better it is for us. It should have been done much earlier.”
She credited the Awami League government, the party that led the struggle for independence, with the decision.
Ganajagaran Mancha Spokesperson Imran H Sarker thinks the assets of the war criminals should be frozen right away before confiscation.
“I’ve heard that they (war criminals’ families) have started laundering their money out of the country after hearing that their assets would be confiscated. Their assets need to be frozen until the law is enforced.”
He called for a provision to distribute the confiscated assets among the poor freedom fighters.
ICT Prosecutor Afroz said it was a ‘globally accepted fact’ that war crimes convicts do not have any right on their properties.
“I think it’s a very good move, though late.”
She also spoke about helpless 1971 war veterans.
“Two freedom fighters testified as witnesses at the tribunal – one of whom is a beggar while the other pulls rickshaw.
“It is hard to believe that those who liberated the country are begging and pulling rickshaw while the war criminals own so much assets,” she lamented.
In her words, the decision to confiscate the properties of the Bangabandhu’s killers was ‘right’.
Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbub-Ul Alam Hanif said the killers of the Bangabandhu and the war criminals have ‘no right to live in Bangladesh, let alone own any assets’.
Source: Bd news24
