| | | Committed to PEOPLE'S RIGHT TO KNOW | | |  | | Saturday, October 27, 2007 12:44 AM GMT+06:00 | | | | | | | | Editorial Editorial Editorial Jamaat denies its anti-liberation role War criminals must be punished
We reject with unreserved repugnance the claim of Jamaat's secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid that Jamaat-e-Islami never worked against our independence struggle and there is no such thing as war criminals in the country. He said this before media displaying veritable arrogance and ire when asked about the role of Jamaat-e-Islami during the nine-month Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. To our utter shock and indignation, Mujahid not only denied any wrong-doing by his party but was defiant enough to throw a challenge to the newsmen to dig into the history and find for themselves the role of Jamaat.
We are outraged by the attempts to mock at the sacrifices of millions and the masses who fought for our Liberation War by those who played a terrorizing part in it in a bid to perpetuate the rule of the Pakistani military junta. We consider this unashamed utterance as impertinence of the most appalling kind that ought to be denounced and countered by everyone in society.
The history of the dark and destructive role of Jamaat-e- Islami before and during the Liberation War is too well-recorded at home and abroad in various forms to allow seepage of confusion or misunderstanding of any kind. The members of this party had taken sides with the Pakistani occupation forces and carried out atrocities of horrendous nature on the freedom-loving people of Bangladesh. They had created para-military forces like al-Badar and al-Shams under the direct control of the Pakistani military commanders and helped them in picking up the freedom fighters from their hideouts. Finally, only days before the ultimate victory on December 16 they struck with the stealth of vipers in the darkness of nights to eliminate the best of our brains. The nation mourns this sad event on December 14 every year. We therefore wonder, how dark a man's heart can be to deny such painful events?
It is ironical indeed that when most Pakistani people today express regret and sorrow, in privacy at least, at the rape and murders committed by the occupation forces in 1971, their Bengali quislings remain unremorseful and unapologetic till date. Today they deny their dark role in the Liberation War, tomorrow they will dare to deny the marvellous feat of the freedom fighters and then the very existence of Bangladesh.
When Jamaat had won some seats in last two general elections and came to parliament we respected voters' choice and tried to convince ourselves that they have come to terms with reality and would now apologise before the nation for their nefarious role in '71. But, today, with the infuriating utterance, Mujahid has made it obvious that they would continue to disrespect and deny our Liberation War and as such our independence.
We once again express our deeply-felt umbrage at the blatant comments of Mujahid and appeal to the people of Bangladesh to reject them with equal sentiments. No one has any right to rewrite the history of Bangladesh Liberation War. | | | |
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