Jamaat's stand on 1971
“The world is a dangerous place to live, not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don't do anything about it. " - Albert Einstein. In the context of the current controversy surrounding a few noted anti-liberation and 1971 war collaborators' statements denying the occurrence of genocide and terming '71 war merely a 'civil war', instead of 'liberation war' as it is known to the people of Bangladesh and the rest of the world, Einstein's above saying points out at least one important aspect of our nation: we have miserably failed to deal with an issue that largely defines our country's birth, history and glory. Needless to say, the statements made by the Jamaat Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mujahid, Jamaat sympathiser Shah Abdul Hannan and Jamaat leader Kader Mollah are false and outrageous; yet I think we cannot get away from our own responsibilities simply by showing our anger at them. They said it because we, collectively, may have helped them arrive at a stage where they think they do not, or need not remember their anti-liberation role in 1971; they see themselves more as the legitimate leaders of an Islamic political party which exerts significant influence in the political arena of Bangladesh. And that did not happen overnight. Years of opportunistic, unpatriotic and power hungry political trendscommon among the mainstream political parties including the one that led our liberation warhave raised their level of confidence. Or else, how many nations do we know of where the documented war criminals dared to deny the very country's sovereignty and birth as early as 36 years after its independence? To the contrary, we know, even 62 years after the World War II, collaborators and sympathizers of Nazis are still being prosecuted and brought to justice in many European countries. A few months ago, a man as eminent as German Nobel Laureate author Günter Grass drew acrid criticismsome even demanded the Nobel Laureate title be withdrawn from himafter he confessed his involvement with the Waffen S.S.an organisation known to have committed many war crimes during the WW II. I see a lot of protests and reactions coming out from the people of Bangladesh: intellectuals; freedom fighters; politicians; secular, cultural & progressive organisations and beyond. This is a good sign that shows, our nation still has not forgotten its greatest heroes and their sacrifice for liberation and however factionalised and divided otherwise we might be, we would not let anyone go unchallenged if the legitimacy of this nation's birth and sacrifice is doubted. Yet I have some concerns whether ultimately we would be able to initiate trials of war criminals and collaborators. I think so not because we have any lack of proof, documents or witnesses as to who those people were that cooperated with the Pak army in killing several hundreds of thousands of freedom fighters, or who formed Al-Badr, Al-Shams etc killer forces; my concern, rather, lies elsewhere. I am afraid, as a nation with long history of dementia, these outbursts and protests may soon turn out to be just a whim or some day the issue might lose priority in our minds. It is also not impossible, political opportunism would instead go in favour of those whom we are trying to put on trial, as it has happened in the past. But I truly hope, my fears do not come true. Echoing the words of valiant freedom fighter Syed Muhammad Ibrahim ( The Daily Star, Oct.29, 2007), I would also like to say, let us “resolve this issue once and for all.”
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