Trial of war criminals
Photo: Wahid Adnan / Driknews
It is very interesting and frustrating as well to listen to the following hot debate every day on the media. The issues are a. trial of war criminals b. declaration of independence. On the issue (a) my question is, is it not a clear fact that millions of people were brutally killed and lost their dignity in the hands of the identified and self confessed killers who opposed the independence of Bangladesh physically with arms? Those who were born at least in the 60's clearly remember those dark days of our history. The killers did not bother to move from door to door and sought international sanction to kill innocent men, women and children in Bangladesh. Why we are begging every day to start the trial and so eager to maintain some kind of standard accepted by a section of our intelligentsia and the international community. The way some of our politicians and members of so called civil society are behaving in front of the media, one would simply ask them where are you from...? On the issue (b), yes, we had heard the declaration by late Ziaur Rahman on the air even after March 27. I feel disgusted to state the actual content, but my question is, what impact it had and why it was necessary for an army major to read the declaration of independence? Does it mean without his declaration, Bangladesh would not achieve independence ? On the other hand, if you see the history after August 15, 1975 and his assuming power; is not it crystal clear why he made that declaration and what kind of dream he had? Whatever he had done was just to undo the spirit of war liberation and ultimately turn Bangladesh into a fanatic fatalist country under the cover of religion. I have no doubt that he had so much political acumen to steer his ideology without the help of external mentors and support. He himself killed his own effort by deviating from the true path of the war of liberation. We all know the history of Mogul rule in India. If you put Humayun's rule before Babar, the dynasty is put to question, I believe. This is where we are struggling and some well-identified groups are successfully playing the game. The political space that is being opened due to failure of the tested politicians, will either accommodate the military dictatorship or Islamic revolution like Iran.
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