War crimes and Jamaat
I draw the attention of my professional colleagues to the statement Mr. Ali Ahsan Mojaheed made a few days ago on live television.
When the Awami League was voted overwhelmingly by the people of East Pakistan and when the Awami League was being denied the right to form the effective government to represent the people of East Pakistan, then the de facto ruling party was Awami League and the de facto Head of Government for us was Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Therefore, the words of Mujib were the words and orders of our government. Every head of government around the world has the right and duty to proclaim war and when our leader on 7 March, 1971 called us to arms against the West Pakistanis and proclaimed that we are to embark on the struggle to end our bondage, anyone or any group or organisation who were working against the mandated de facto Awami League leadership's orders must be considered traitors and their crime was simply 'treason'.
I remember that when the British Prime Minister Mr. Tony Blair and his Labour party decided to go to war against Saddam Hossain, the Liberal Democrat party was against the war decision, yet when the war started -- they wholeheartedly expressed their support for the British forces.
In England, though the death penalty has been abolished for all crimes, yet the exception remains for 'treason' where the penalty is 'death'.
Therefore, even if Mr. Mojaheed or his colleagues did not order any crimes against us per se, yet the creation of organisations which were active against our liberation and independence struggle is an act of 'treason' by itself. He and others should have known that criminals were to take the shelter of the Jamaat and Pakistani forces for committing various crimes without the fear of being persecuted as they were zealous active members of the Pakistani regime.
Jamaat leaders, who supported Pakistani regime's brutality, were against our morality and religious beliefs. They should also be tried for hurting our religious belief in Islam. In the name of our beloved religion of Islam, they were misinterpreting the holy scriptures to justify the brutalities by the West Pakistanis.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments