Sir - The letter of Mr.Motiur Rahman Nizami of Jamaat-e-Islami published in the Economist on December 19th, 2007 (" Guilty at birth?", December 8th) again brought tears to my eyes and evoked growing sense of rage after reading the false and fabricated letter written by him. Indeed, the Pakistan army could not have committed heinous atrocities at such scale without the active help of Jamat - e - Islami and their Al-badr and Razakar war criminal slaves.
Bangladesh became independent in December 1971, after a nine-month war that pitted Bengali-dominated East Pakistan against West Pakistan. The West's army, with it's appeal to Islamic unity, had the support of many of East Pakistan's fundamentalist parties. The most extreme of these was the Jamaat-e-Islami, whose student wing became the main source of a pro-army paramilitary body called Al Badr, which was led by Mr Nizami. It's members are alleged, among other atrocities, to have abducted and murdered dozens of senior journalists and academics. Frequent calls for war-crimes trials have been ignored. This time, the unelected government's hand may be forced by the new unity among the big parties, and by support for the demands among parts of the army. Many witnesses, and accused, have died. The head of the interim administration, Dr. Fakhruddin Ahmed, has said that the government would welcome prosecutions initiated by private citizens. But citizens' groups insist that the state must act as prosecutor in crimes of such magnitude.
The legal experts said reports and statements, which were published in the Daily Sangram, the official voice of Jamaat-e-Islami, during the liberation war of Bangladesh, about the activities of the anti-liberation forces, might be sufficient to try the collaborators of the Pakistan occupation forces. Other national and international newspapers published during the liberation war also ran news and photographs about the activities of the anti-liberation local forces, which are also admissible in courts according to the law, said the experts. Two cases are now in the court against Mr. Nizami and his associates for trial.
On the other hand, Mr. Nizami through his letter created the 'eighth wonder of the world' by refusing his activities. A snake always remains a snake even though it sheds skin.
Gopal Sengupta
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Bangladesh's past
SIR – Regarding your recent article on Bangladesh ("
Guilty at birth?", December 8th). The party I lead, Jamaat-e-Islami, strongly denies any link with the atrocities committed during the war of independence in 1971. It also denies any involvement whatsoever with the abduction and murder of journalists and academics. I would also point out that I was never a member of Al Badr nor did I ever lead that organisation. Furthermore, I ceased to become the head of Jamaat's student wing from October 1971 and did not hold any post in Jamaat until long after Bangladesh's liberation.
Jamaat is a moderate Islamic party that believes in democracy and human rights and is strongly committed to upholding the rule of law. Jamaat's position has always been that if any allegations made by a future war-crimes tribunal against a member of Jamaat are proved to be true in a court of law, then we are ready to face the consequences. In the past 36 years, no one, not even the relatives of the victims' families, has taken any step to institute legal proceedings against the alleged perpetrators of war crimes.
Motiur Rahman Nizami
Jamaat-e-Islami
Dhaka
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