On February 5, eminent citizens and those who lost their loved ones, friends and neighbours during the Liberation War at the hands of Quader Mollah expressed their shocks, after a war crimes tribunal gave Mollah a life term. But talking to Tamanna Khan and Mahbubur Rahman Khan yesterday, they said justice had finally been done.
“Justice delayed but justice done,” said Syed Shahidul Haque Mama, the second witness in the case against Quader Mollah.
He said he had been waiting for the verdict and did not even fly back to Sweden, where he lives.
“I think that this verdict will unite the nation,” he told this newspaper at the Supreme Court.
Poet Quazi Rosy, friend of martyr poet Meherunnessa who was killed on 27 March 1971 along with her family, said her friend’s soul could now rest in peace.
“I was extremely sad on February 5 after hearing the verdict; today it is the opposite,” she said. “It feels like a thousand balloons and pigeons are flying in the sky with news of peace, and a stream of tranquillity is flowing through my heart.”
“As witnesses”, she said, “we have waited for 42 years to be able to speak for justice, then the wait began for a trial, then it was for a verdict and now we look forward to see its implementation.”
Describing the verdict as the victory of truth and justice, Mofidul Haq, Trustee of the Liberation War Museum, said the SC judgment settled a number of legal issues concerning the war crimes trial.
He thanked the young generation for setting the ground to amend the International Crimes Tribunal Act 1973 to provide equal opportunity for the accused and the victim to appeal.
“This is a historic role played by the youth of Bangladesh,” he said, referring to the Shahbagh movement that began on February 5 after the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Quader Mollah to life.
Freedom fighter and cultural activist Nasiruddin Yousuff Bachchu said, “I am satisfied that a rapist, killer, perpetrator of genocide and crimes against humanity received the highest punishment.
“This will be an example to others in future Bangladesh that no criminal who violates human rights can get away with such heinous crimes.”
Terming it a historic verdict, he said justice had been done through the cancellation of the war crimes tribunal’s judgment.
Jahangirnagar University Vice-chancellor Prof Anwar Hossain said, “This is the victory of the new generation. It is because of their demand that the appeal by the prosecution to enhance the punishment became possible.”
Describing the verdict also as the victory for Bangladesh, he said: “The spirit of the Liberation War has triumphed through this verdict.”
SHAFIUDDIN MOLLAH
Shafiuddin Mollah from the Alubdi village in Mirpur’s Pallabi, where Quader Mollah facilitated and participated in the killing of 360-370 Bangalees on April 24, 1971, thanked the SC judges for the verdict on behalf of the people of Alubdi.
“Now we want the quick implementation of the verdict as a different government might overturn the judgment,” said Shafiuddin, a witness in the case.
“The government must also ensure security of all the witnesses who testified in the International Crimes Tribunal. This is our demand to the prime minister.”
MA Hasan, a freedom fighter and war crimes researcher, said, “This [death penalty] should have been the punishment in the first verdict.”
Giving accounts of Mollah’s roles as a collaborator during the 1971 war and his link with the Pakistan Army, he expressed his astonishment as to why these did not properly come up during the investigation.
“This verdict is not to punish any single individual. This will rather put an end to a wrong philosophy, a philosophy that supports killing of innocent people in the name of religion.”
“I am overjoyed,” said Amirul Hossain Mollah, another villager of Alubdi. “It is a victory for the liberation forces.”
He added: “It is true that the Appellate Division took time, but the verdict must be executed as soon as possible.”
A group of youth in Alubdi brought out a celebratory procession and distributed sweetmeats among people after hearing the verdict, said the prosecution witness.
Source: The Daily Star