Such utterances by Jamaat leaders about our liberation war are not new. The top party leaders who had directly collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971, and masterminded the killing of intellectuals, time and again dared to claim that they had not committed any wrong in 1971.
As in the past, this time also, their utterances triggered a huge turmoil in the minds of countrymen, especially among the war heroes who are still alive. Interestingly, when any movement against anti-liberation forces starts gaining momentum, the name of Awami League is entwined with the issue by a section of people, apparently to allow the issue to fade away.
Not only the people of the collaborators' camp but also those in the opposite camps point their fingers towards AL for not trying the war criminals, and for giving shelter to the anti-liberation forces. Experience tells us that whenever Awami League is put on the same balance with Jamaat, the issue soon disappears.
It's true that Awami League bears the biggest share of the failure to bring the war criminals to book. But, we should not also forget that only the Bangabandhu government had taken steps to try the collaborators. The post-liberation government headed by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had enacted Collaborators Act to try the Pakistani collaborators and war criminals.
The act covers those individuals and organisations that helped the Pakistani occupying army in carrying out mass killings, conducting crimes against humanity, torturing people, destroying property, and fighting against the people of Bangladesh.
On November 30, 1973, Bangabandhu declared general amnesty for the people who were arrested on charge of assisting the Pakistani forces. The Collaborators Act, which was published in a gazette notification on the same day, however, says none of the war criminals had been pardoned.
Out of 37,000 prisoners, some 26,000 were freed after the announcement of the general amnesty. Around 11,000 were still in jail when the government of President Justice Sayem and General Ziaur Rahman repealed the Collaborators Act on December 31, 1975. After the scrapping of the act, those behind bars for carrying out war atrocities appealed, and eventually got released.
The Bangabandhu government had also banned religion-based politics in the country through incorporating provisions in this regard in the Constitution. Article 38 of the 1972 Constitution read: "Every citizen shall have the right to form association or union subject to any reasonable restriction imposed by law in the interest of morality or public order: provided that no person shall have the right to form or be a member or otherwise take part in the activities of any communal or other association or union which in the name or on the basis of any religion has for its object, purposes, a political purpose."
During the post-independent Awami League government that lasted for only three and a half years, there was no religion-based political party in the country. It was General Zia who opened the floodgates of doing religion-based politics in the country by repealing Article 38 of the Constitution. He also brought back home some infamous collaborators like former Jamaat Ameer, Gholam Azam, from abroad.
So, the allegation that post-independence Awami League did not do anything to try the war criminals and prohibit sprouting of religion-based politics is not true. It promulgated laws, initiated trials, and sent numerous war criminals behind bars.
Despite the declaration of general amnesty, incarceration of 11,000 alleged war criminals itself is proof that the Bangabandhu government was sincere in trying the perpetrators of heinous crimes against humanity during the liberation war in 1971.
Everybody in the country expects that Awami League should take the onus to try the war criminals and collaborators. They should take the lead role in stamping out religious bigots from the country. But my humble question is: how much support had the countrymen extended to Awami League to implement the agenda?
Rather, Awami League was a lone crusader fighting against bigotry for long. It had to pay a heavy toll for acting against the reactionary forces. The anti-liberation forces, with the help of their cronies at home and abroad, killed Bangabandhu along with his family members and close kith and kin. Not only that; the front-ranking party leaders who steered the liberation war in 1971 and headed the provisional government in exile were also killed in jail.
There are allegations against Awami League that it had forged unity with Jamaat-e-Islami at least twice -- once in 1986 during military ruler Ershad's regime, and again in 95-96 during BNP's rule. The latest agreement of Awami League with some fundamentalist parties prior to the stalled 9th parliamentary elections early this year also drew widespread criticism and condemnation from various quarters.
Such opportunism and compromise of Awami League leaders undoubtedly broke the hearts of many sympathisers. But there might be a thin rationale (perhaps psychological) behind such behaviour.
As Awami League started to regain strength, overcoming the 1975 trauma, it had to face multi-pronged attacks since the late 70s. Thousands of activists of Awami League and its front organisations -- Chhatra League, Jubo League, Sramik League, Krishak League -- have been killed, tortured and maimed during the last three decades at the hands of cadres of Jamaat-Shibir and other ruling parties. No party, other than Awami League, had to sacrifice so much for the country and face so much vengeance for opposing Jamaat-Shibir politics in the country. But, what did it get in exchange? How did the countrymen reward it?
We rewarded Awami League by keeping it out of state power for 27 years out of the 32 years after 1975. Whenever there came a slim chance of Awami League assuming state power, either reactionary forces usurped power or all forces got united to block its triumph.
Under these circumstances, if Awami League acquires some opportunistic characteristics, the blame can't be shifted onto it entirely. In its time of need, we failed to help it. When it sought help, we not only shut our doors but also sometimes stood against its interest.
It's heartening that our war heroes, pro-liberation political parties, and conscious sections of the society have awakened once again and raised their voices against the war criminals and religion-based politics. Our failure to punish the criminals during the last 36 years made them feel that they had become immune. They have become so ferocious that they have now dared to deny the liberation war.
Infiltrating into the core of the society, they have already destroyed its thousand-year-old traditional characteristics. If they are not halted here, our beloved Bangladesh, earned through the blood of millions of men and women, will turn into a country of religious bigots.
So, mudslinging and blame game against each other among the pro-liberation forces will not bring any good for the country. Without the help of Awami League, it's not possible, at least at the present context, to defeat the anti-liberation forces.
Despite some past ideological slips, Awami League is still the main force that can do something against the anti-liberation forces if it gets adequate support from others. Let us work towards that end; unite all the pro-liberation forces under a single umbrella and launch a vigorous campaign against the enemy.
We should not forget that it will not be an easy task to defeat the enemy. During the last three decades, they have gained substantial strength in terms of money and manpower to confront any sort of offensive.
Nazrul Islam is a freelance contributor to The Daily Star.
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