Trial Mujahid: Cross-examination continues
Dhaka, Sept 13 (UNB) - Journalist prosecution witness Shahriar Kabir said on Thursday that Jamaat-e-Islami secretary general Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid had addressed a wayside meeting organised by Al Badr, an auxiliary force of Pakistan occupation army, as its chief during the Liberation War.
Replying to a defence lawyer’s question at the International Crimes Tribunal-2, PW-1 Shahriar Kabir said the daily Azadi published news with a picture of Mujahid on December 11 in 1971, which showed Muhahid was addressing a meeting of Al Badr asking them to remain vigilant against rumours.
Shahriar reaffirmed his earlier statement that Al Badr, formed with the leaders of the then Jamaat-backed student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS), was a half-secret outfit. And that is why Al Badr high command was not seen in newspapers in 1971, he added.
He, however, said people could know about the formation of Al Badr and its high command from the reports published in the newspapers after Bangladesh’s independence.
While testifying on August 26, Shahriar, quoting the Dainik Pakistan, a vernacular daily, said at a gathering organised on Badr Day on November 8, 1971, Mujahid termed freedom-loving people of the country as the enemies of Islam and vowed to kill them.
War hero Shahriar Kabir was cross-examined for the sixth day by Mizanul Islam, the defence lawyer for detained accused Mujahid who was present in the dock.
Asked whether he had any information about how many members of ICS were at Dhaka University during the Liberation War, he replied in the negative.
In response to a question, he said the cases filed in connection with the killings of intellectuals were ‘fabricated’ as officers-in-charge of different police stations, who worked under Pakistani junta during the nine-month war, investigated the cases.
Asked whether Prof Munier Chowdhury had signed any statement urging the integrity of Pakistan in 1971, he answered in the affirmative and said many people were forced to sign such a statement and they did so for the sake of their lives.
At the fag end of the Liberation War, Munier Chowdhury was killed by members of Al Badr, a secret killing squad of Jamaat-e-Islami.
The cross-examination over, Shahriar, once again said he is being mentally tortured prolonging the cross-examination by defence lawyer Mizanul Islam.
Seeking permission from the tribunal to submit the name of the witness on the day on which he is assigned to give deposition, prosecution lawyer Rana Dasgupta said they suspect that prosecution witnesses face trouble or are threatened before coming to the tribunal.
Earlier, he mentioned that Shahriar Kabir has already been cross-examined for 18 hours.
The cross-examination remained inconclusive.
Mujahid, 64, was indicted with seven charges, including murder, torture, and imprisonment of people, genocide, and hatching a conspiracy to kill intellectuals during the Liberation War.
Replying to a defence lawyer’s question at the International Crimes Tribunal-2, PW-1 Shahriar Kabir said the daily Azadi published news with a picture of Mujahid on December 11 in 1971, which showed Muhahid was addressing a meeting of Al Badr asking them to remain vigilant against rumours.
Shahriar reaffirmed his earlier statement that Al Badr, formed with the leaders of the then Jamaat-backed student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS), was a half-secret outfit. And that is why Al Badr high command was not seen in newspapers in 1971, he added.
He, however, said people could know about the formation of Al Badr and its high command from the reports published in the newspapers after Bangladesh’s independence.
While testifying on August 26, Shahriar, quoting the Dainik Pakistan, a vernacular daily, said at a gathering organised on Badr Day on November 8, 1971, Mujahid termed freedom-loving people of the country as the enemies of Islam and vowed to kill them.
War hero Shahriar Kabir was cross-examined for the sixth day by Mizanul Islam, the defence lawyer for detained accused Mujahid who was present in the dock.
Asked whether he had any information about how many members of ICS were at Dhaka University during the Liberation War, he replied in the negative.
In response to a question, he said the cases filed in connection with the killings of intellectuals were ‘fabricated’ as officers-in-charge of different police stations, who worked under Pakistani junta during the nine-month war, investigated the cases.
Asked whether Prof Munier Chowdhury had signed any statement urging the integrity of Pakistan in 1971, he answered in the affirmative and said many people were forced to sign such a statement and they did so for the sake of their lives.
At the fag end of the Liberation War, Munier Chowdhury was killed by members of Al Badr, a secret killing squad of Jamaat-e-Islami.
The cross-examination over, Shahriar, once again said he is being mentally tortured prolonging the cross-examination by defence lawyer Mizanul Islam.
Seeking permission from the tribunal to submit the name of the witness on the day on which he is assigned to give deposition, prosecution lawyer Rana Dasgupta said they suspect that prosecution witnesses face trouble or are threatened before coming to the tribunal.
Earlier, he mentioned that Shahriar Kabir has already been cross-examined for 18 hours.
The cross-examination remained inconclusive.
Mujahid, 64, was indicted with seven charges, including murder, torture, and imprisonment of people, genocide, and hatching a conspiracy to kill intellectuals during the Liberation War.
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