Nizami, Mujahid were notorious rioters: PW
Dhaka, Sept 20 (UNB) - A prosecution witness on Thursday told the International Crimes Tribunal-2 that Al Badr commanders and Jamaat leaders Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid were notorious rioters who used to carry out inhumane tortures on captured freedom-loving people and conceal their bodies after killings during the Liberation War.
While giving deposition before the tribunal, war hero Zahir Uddin Jalal said he had heard from his father that the duo Jamaat leaders who collaborated with the Pakistani occupation army appeared as rioters.
“My father had cautioned me Nizami and Mujahid might hand me over to the Pakistani junta as I formed a defence party to save my country before March 26, 1971,” said Zahir Uddin.
The PW said many activists, whom he termed as hoodlums of Jamaat-backed student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS) and Muslim League, had started chanting slogans for Pakistan since March 9, 1971.
The collaborators had also prepared the list of people, who dreamt of an independent Bangladesh, and Awami League supporters as well as the members of the Hindu community, Zahir recalled.
Being afraid of the Pakistani army and their collaborators, the PW had left the house for Ashuganj and joined Bengal Regiment there to liberate the country.
However, Zahir said, he along with many freedom fighters, who received training in Ashuganj, had come back to Dhaka in June, 1971 and started attacking the Pakistani army.
On August 30, 1971, he was captured by Razakars and taken to a makeshift torture cell in the city’s Farmgate area, where he found his comrades in arms in a critical condition.
The PW said some freedom fighters -- Bodi, Jewel, Rumi, Azad and renowned composer Altaf Mahmud -- were about to die at the torture cell because of the mistreatment of the Pakistani army.
He said he was surprised seeing both Nizami and Mujahid in the cell with arms in their hands, about whom he had earlier heard as the collaborators.
Zahir further said, “The detained freedom fighters held both Jamaat leaders responsible for the torture on them and asked me (Zahir) not to tell anything outside.”
“In the cell, Nizami had asked me how I knew the detainees and what I discussed with them after he found me talking to the detainees,” he added.
He went on: “Nizami had hit at my hands with a pistol and threatened me to pick my mother and sister up if his questions went unanswered.”
Zahir, who was brutally tortured in the cell, accused Nizami and Mujahid of hurling abuses at him and other detainees. However, he managed to flee the cell and joined the Liberation War again.
On December 4, 1971, Mujahid had campaigned through a loudhailer in the capital to drum up support for the Pakistani army and expressed his determination behalf of Al Badr that they would kill freedom fighters to save Pakistan, said the PW.
He added that a report on Mujahid’s publicity was also published in the daily Purbadesh on December 5, 1971.
The tribunal adjourned its proceedings until September 25 when the PW will be cross-examined by defence counsel.
Detained Nizami faces charges of murder and torture of unarmed people during the Liberation War in 1971, along with hatching conspiracy, planning, incitement and complicity to commit genocide and crimes against humanity during the war.
Mujahid, 64, faces seven counts of offences, including murder, torture and confinement of people, genocide and hatching conspiracy to kill intellectuals during the Liberation War.
While giving deposition before the tribunal, war hero Zahir Uddin Jalal said he had heard from his father that the duo Jamaat leaders who collaborated with the Pakistani occupation army appeared as rioters.
“My father had cautioned me Nizami and Mujahid might hand me over to the Pakistani junta as I formed a defence party to save my country before March 26, 1971,” said Zahir Uddin.
The PW said many activists, whom he termed as hoodlums of Jamaat-backed student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS) and Muslim League, had started chanting slogans for Pakistan since March 9, 1971.
The collaborators had also prepared the list of people, who dreamt of an independent Bangladesh, and Awami League supporters as well as the members of the Hindu community, Zahir recalled.
Being afraid of the Pakistani army and their collaborators, the PW had left the house for Ashuganj and joined Bengal Regiment there to liberate the country.
However, Zahir said, he along with many freedom fighters, who received training in Ashuganj, had come back to Dhaka in June, 1971 and started attacking the Pakistani army.
On August 30, 1971, he was captured by Razakars and taken to a makeshift torture cell in the city’s Farmgate area, where he found his comrades in arms in a critical condition.
The PW said some freedom fighters -- Bodi, Jewel, Rumi, Azad and renowned composer Altaf Mahmud -- were about to die at the torture cell because of the mistreatment of the Pakistani army.
He said he was surprised seeing both Nizami and Mujahid in the cell with arms in their hands, about whom he had earlier heard as the collaborators.
Zahir further said, “The detained freedom fighters held both Jamaat leaders responsible for the torture on them and asked me (Zahir) not to tell anything outside.”
“In the cell, Nizami had asked me how I knew the detainees and what I discussed with them after he found me talking to the detainees,” he added.
He went on: “Nizami had hit at my hands with a pistol and threatened me to pick my mother and sister up if his questions went unanswered.”
Zahir, who was brutally tortured in the cell, accused Nizami and Mujahid of hurling abuses at him and other detainees. However, he managed to flee the cell and joined the Liberation War again.
On December 4, 1971, Mujahid had campaigned through a loudhailer in the capital to drum up support for the Pakistani army and expressed his determination behalf of Al Badr that they would kill freedom fighters to save Pakistan, said the PW.
He added that a report on Mujahid’s publicity was also published in the daily Purbadesh on December 5, 1971.
The tribunal adjourned its proceedings until September 25 when the PW will be cross-examined by defence counsel.
Detained Nizami faces charges of murder and torture of unarmed people during the Liberation War in 1971, along with hatching conspiracy, planning, incitement and complicity to commit genocide and crimes against humanity during the war.
Mujahid, 64, faces seven counts of offences, including murder, torture and confinement of people, genocide and hatching conspiracy to kill intellectuals during the Liberation War.
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