Faruque Ahmed
Four days countrywide hartal and violence and two International Crimes Trial (ICT) verdicts against two top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders marked the country’s political landscape last week, leaving people to a state of fear of greater bloodshed and confrontations.
Following the verdict of death sentence to Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeede, the country saw a total breakdown of law and order situation and at least 150 people were killed by the law enforcing agencies in the city and countryside to calm the situation. Even police men were killed by angry protesters to denounce the verdict that time.
Fears were also running high this time that a similar situation may also recur following the verdict of the Gulam Azam case. But the situation could be avoided with the ICT passing a lenient punishment unlike the death sentence to other Jamaat leaders.
But no sooner had the fear subsided, the ICT once again handed over a death sentence to Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohamad Mujaheed on Wednesday last. He has been held accountable for his ‘superior command’ responsibility in the killing of intellectuals in Dhaka at the fag end of the liberation war in 1971 and also for killing of the members of the Hindu community at his home district Faridpur. The ICT said his involvement in crimes against humanity including the killing of martyred journalist Sirajuddin Hossain, who was the executive editor of the Daily Ittefaq, has been proved beyond doubt. The prosecution brought seven charges against him and out of them five were proved, the verdict said.
Earlier on Monday, the tribunal handed over a 90-year prison sentence to former chief of Jamaat-e-Islami Prof Gulam Azam; also for his superior command responsibility in killing, planning genocide, conspiracy and spreading excitement to war time crimes during the liberation war. He was also held responsible for the death of a family at his home district in Brahmanbaria, but the judges said, he has been given a lesser sentence taking his old age and fragile health condition into consideration instead of death sentence which he deserved.
The defence in the case however all along maintained that these are their ‘perceived involvement’ they were not physically involved in any such murder, killing, genocide and other crimes. Mujahed said he was not even physically present at Faridpur all along the liberation period. Gulaam Azam was out of the country, the defence claimed. They said the convicts are victims of political vendetta.
So far the ICT has handed over verdict to six cases. It included death verdicts to Maulana Delwar Hossain Sayeede, ATM Quaruzzaman and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad, however, was not directly linked to Jammat leadership. Life sentence has been awarded to Abdul Quader Mollah and of late, to Prof Gulam Azam. Hearing on three more cases are closing to the end and they refer to cases against the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami and BNP leaders Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury and Abdul Alim. The ICT appears to be in a haste now to close the cases as soon as possible after a three month wait for verdict on Golam Azam case.
Most political analysts tend to believe that the government attempted to work out a deal with the Jamaat while the verdict on Gulam Azam case was pending to lure the party to come out of the BNP-led alliance to join the next election under the interim government to be led by incumbent Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Many party leaders share the speculations. Informed sources tend to believe that the 90-year prison sentence to Gulam Azam was a negotiated verdict either under pressure from powerful international quarters or out of domestic political compulsion. But one thing is clear that the government wants to see the end of ICT trial of major Jamaat leaders before the end of its tenure in office which is closing fast. They also suggest that next back door negotiation with Jamaat may recur using the card of execution of the convicted party leaders to bring Jamaat to election.
Awami League is bent upon achieving the goal to destroy the BNP-led alliance to diminish its chance of winning the next election and make sure its return to power and analysts believe the government is using the trial to take advantage from it.
More interesting this time was the call of hartal given by Gonojagoron manch, which is known as a government supported platform, to protest a lenient verdict against Prof Gulam Azam. Analysts were amused, at the same time, to hear about satisfaction of the government leaders including the Prime Minister on Azam’s verdict. People were at a loss as to what is going around the power corner. Critics said, the hartal call given by Gonojagoron manch was apparently enforced to counter the hartal given by Jamaat activists, but some of them also believe that the ruling party may have mobilized them to take cover of any deal that they may have struck over Gulam Azam verdict. Politics is unfolding new areas every day and one may wonder where will it end.
Source: Weekly Holiday
