Musings
Encounters of the Dark Kind
Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, now lives in Britain, safe in the knowledge that he may never be caught for his crime
Let us talk about Razakars today. And we need to do that because of all the nonsense Chowdhury Mueen Uddin has lately been spewing about a country he betrayed back in 1971. The man, accused of having led some leading Bengali intellectuals to their death only days before the collapse of Pakistan in Bangladesh, now lives in Britain, safe in the knowledge that he might never be caught for his crimes, might never have to face trial in Bangladesh. Yes, of course, we in this country are doing all we can to have him brought in from his safe haven in London and grill him over his criminality in 1971. If we succeed in doing that, nothing could give us a greater degree of pleasure.
You might find it rather surprising to hear it from me, but the fact is that at one point in the late 1990s, early 1997 to be specific (and John Major was yet British prime minister), Mueen Uddin bumped into me or I ran into him. And that was at a gathering organised at London's Regent Park mosque. Diplomats from a number of Muslim countries were there. Since the Bangladesh High Commissioner and I had both been invited to the programme by the mosque committee, it was decided that as minister press at our mission I would represent Bangladesh.
And so it is that I walk into the mosque. I notice that a man who looks every inch a Bengali approach me with a smile. He comes toward me with an outstretched right hand and tells me, in Bengali, that it is good to meet the new Bangladesh diplomat — that is me. A glance at the lapel of his coat gives me the certainty of where I have seen him or his image earlier. The name on the lapel gives him away. It is 'Chowdhury Mueen Uddin'. By then he is already shaking hands with me. I tell him, as politely as I can, that I know him. He is curious to know how. “I remember seeing your picture in our newspapers after 16 December 1971”, I tell him. He quickly moves away. For the rest of the evening, as I exchange pleasantries with other diplomats and with the British Home Secretary (who was chief guest on the occasion), there is no sign of Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin.
The Martyred Intellectuals Monument in Rayerbazar. Photo: Zahedul I Khan
Move on to mid-1999. At my High Commission office at Queen's Gate, a packet of journals comes to me from the Muslim Council of Britain. As I flip through the pages of the journal, I notice Chowdhury Mueen Uddin's name on the list of MCB office bearers. It is a moment when I ask myself how such a notorious man can grace the councils of such a reputed organisation as the MCB. I sit down, have a mug of coffee before writing a letter to Iqbal Sacranie, president of the organisation. I give him the facts relating to Mueen Uddin, explaining to Sacranie that the man fled Bangladesh in December 1971 once it became known that he had been involved in the liberation-eve murder of Bengali intellectuals. I also remind Sacranie of the contents of the Channel Four documentary 'War Crimes File', where additional information about Mueen Uddin can be had.
Having mailed the letter to Iqbal Sacranie, I wait for a response. And I discover in the process, even as I wait, that a young Bengali woman at Oxford I had earlier known at Dhaka University and with whom I have reconnected in London is linked to the MCB's humanitarian activities. She knows Mueen Uddin, but she knows nothing of him or of his past. I give her a full account of what the man did in the dying days of East Pakistan in Bangladesh and how he fled the new country and made his way to Britain. She looks worried and tells me neither she nor anyone else has known of Mueen Uddin's past. So that is that.
A full month goes by. And then, on a cloudy, cold London day, Iqbal Sacranie's response to my letter reaches my table. He tells me he has had a talk with Chowdhury Mueen Uddin about the contents of my letter. Mueen Uddin, he informs me in very formal language, has denied the charges I have made against him in the letter. He did not commit any wrong in occupied Bangladesh in 1971. Besides, Sacranie tells me, Mueen Uddin has sued the government of Bangladesh over the charges levelled at him.
I sit at my desk once more, have a mug of coffee again, as I write to Sacranie yet once again. This time the point is straightforward: go into the record of the Bangladesh war, study the news reports which emerged in the Bangladesh and British media on Mueen Uddin's insidious role in 1971, conduct an internal inquiry about the man at the MCB and see what results emerge. Iqbal Sacranie does not reply to this second letter.
Like millions of other Bengalis, I am happy, indeed cheered by all this renewed spotlight on a man who helped to do away with far better men than he, back in that dark year for the country he killed for. At some point, there must be comeuppance coming his way.
And let's talk about other living, aging Razakars some other day.
The writer is Executive Editor, The Daily Star.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments