Trial of war criminals
Recently, there have been demands from certain quarters for the trial of the “war criminals”. Perhaps it is necessary to find out first if the law of the country is equipped for trial of war crimes and what is the definition of such offence given in the provisions of law. Recently, the court discharged a case filed against certain individuals on allegation of being war criminals. I am not against trial of any individual for committing war crime. I belong to a shaheed family that suffered immensely during the liberation war. Therefore, trial for committing war crime is also my foremost demand. But to term those individuals “ war criminals” before conviction might give rise to various legal complications. As such it may not yield the desired result. Trial could be sought against any specific crime committed either against the country or any individual after collection of enough evidence needed to prove their involvement which in my opinion would be very difficult to get now, after a long time. Otherwise, if all those evidences could not be produced, I am afraid, the case will not hold good. Everybody knows the AL government was instrumental in declaring a general amnesty to the people once opposed to the creation of Bangladesh. The AL, the Jatiyo Party and the BNP should be held responsible for their failure to try those opposed to the creation of Bangladesh during their 36-year rule.
The most interesting part of the episode is that, lately the surviving Sector Commanders also have come up in a strong way demanding trial of the “war criminals”. Many of them were active members of both the AL and the BNP, so the question remains what they have been doing during the last 36 years?
We have seen newspaper reports and photographs of many freedom fighters; some were disabled, passing their days in acute poverty along with their families. Some of them became rickshaw-pullers or even beggars. It is a great shame for the nation that it failed to do enough for those who sacrificed everything to bring independence to our beloved country. Is it not the special duty of the Sector Commanders to try to do something good for their brothers with whom they fought shoulder to shoulder to liberate the country, rather than only seeking belated trial of the war criminals after such a long time?
Let us do something fruitful and constructive which will benefit the country and its people.
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