On Thursday, 25 October 2007, Jamaat
Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mujahid stood
before the Election Commission and put
forth lies about the Liberation War and
Genocide of 1971. On behalf of the Sector
Commanders Forum, we reject these lies and
demand his arrest and trial. We also
demand the punishment of their advisor Mr.
Shah A. Hannan who, while explaining the
Jamaat stand, called the 1971 war a 'civil
war' and thus denied the Liberation War
and the people's sacrifice for
independence. We demand their punishment
because they have fallen into treason by
denying the existence and Constitution of
Bangladesh. Their declarations are part of
a shameful effort to obliterate our
national pride and identity. As a result,
an extensive section of the people have
been emotionally assaulted and there is a
possibility that the resulting mass
discontent will lead to a breach in the
country's peace and stability.
In order to create unrest in the
country and foil the Election Commission's
registration plans, the killers of 1971
and accomplices of the Pakistani war
criminals are loudly shouting that there
are no war criminals in today's Bangladesh
and there were not any even in 1971. They
also claim that the war in 1971 was a
'civil war.' In this way they have
trampled on the history of the nation, the
country, and our armed forces. By showing
disrespect to the three million martyrs of
Bangladesh, these hateful criminals who
roam free because of the absence of
justice are trying to prove our memory,
freedom memorials, and eternal flame as a
mean joke, and through this they are
arrogantly attempting to denigrate the
country in the world scene.
In reality the genocide that occurred
in 1971 was the result of a monstrous
plan. We call for the trial, under an
emergency basis, of those representatives
of the Jamaat e Islami, Nizam i Islami and
Muslim League who were involved in war
crimes and crimes against humanity as
loyalists of this plan.
In 1971, the Pakistani military
murdered Bengalis for being Bengalis,
eliminated Hindus for being Hindus. And
the local accomplices of the foreign enemy
followed their masters and,
embracing their depraved outlook and
selfishness, took part in genocidal crimes
like murder, rape, and torture. For this
reason it has been clearly established
that in 1971 genocide was carried out
according to the universally accepted
understanding of the concept.
"In 1971 the Pakistani war
criminals and their accomplices organized
53 types of crimes on this country's soil.
In broad terms, they committed 17 types of
war crimes, 13 types of crimes against
humanity, and four types of
genocide-related crimes. At that time in
the context of widespread murder and
torture, 5,000 killing fields were
prepared. Among them, the War Crimes Fact
Finding Committee has been able to locate
920 such execution grounds. In addition 88
rivers and 65 bridge culverts were
identified where hundreds of ordinary
Bengalis were systematically killed
without trial." (Source: WCFCC
research) From this one can get a sense of
the scale and depth of the killings and
the numbers of those who died in the mass
murders. If 70% of the martyrs' bodies had
not floated away in the rivers and
waterways, it cannot be imagined how many
mass graves there might have been.
On 9 December 1948 the United Nations
General Assembly adopted Resolution 260
(3) that declared genocide as a punishable
crime that every state is bound to resist.
Genocide was defined as such actions
through which attempts have been or are
made to eliminate -- fully or partly -- a
nation, religious community or ethnic
group.
According to this definition, genocide
is not limited to murder. According to
part 2 of Resolution 260(3), those actions
that count as genocide are:
The murder or elimination of members
of a nation or community as part of a
plan to destroy them.
Bodily or psychologically harming
such people in order to eliminate
them.
In a planned way to create such a
life-threatening situation that a
nation is partly or wholly destroyed.
To take such measures that members
of a nation or community are not only
prevented from living their lives but
also their births prevented so that
their life cycle is brought to an end.
To remove the children of a nation
or community and erase their birth and
national identity is also considered
genocide.
Investigations conducted in the period
after the war led to identifying 195
Pakistani war criminals against whom there
were accusations of war crimes, crimes
against humanity, and genocide. There is
also an initial list of those members of
the Razakar, Al Badr and Al Shams forces
who assisted in perpetrating the war
crimes.
Most of the leaders of today's Jamaat e
Islami were accomplices of the Pakistani
war criminals. In addition, many among the
Nizam i Islami, Muslim League, and BD
members assisted the Pakistanis and
involved themselves in murder and other
crimes against humanity. Through
publishing statements in newspapers, many
of them tried to delude the country's
youth in the name of religion and carried
out cruel murders. Outside the theatre of
war, they murdered intellectuals and
other innocent ordinary and professional
people. By instigating genocide and
indiscriminate destruction they
established themselves among the top
criminals of 1971.
With this background, on behalf of the
Sector Commanders Forum we demand that the
1971 killers and lackeys be declared
ineligible for registration in the
elections. We call for trials and boycotts
of all those involved in 1971-related
genocide, war crimes, and crimes against
humanity. In this context two letters with
clear demands have been sent to the Chief
Advisor and Chief Election Commissioner.
It is hoped that the government will
take initiatives under national and
international law to carry out trials for
1971-related war crimes, crimes against
humanity, and genocide. And to make this
initiative successful we call for the
unity of all freedom fighters and
representatives of civil society. We are
eager to see the united resistance of the
people and freedom fighters to nullify the
dirty plans of the 1971 killers.
To make this effective, we call on the
people to identify the criminals at the
grass roots, upazilla and district levels
and to express their disgust for them
through non-violent means. We also invite
people to send us letters listing the
names of the criminals and descriptions of
their crimes.
To make the campaign to boycott the
1971 killers successful all over the
country, we call on the print and
electronic media to boycott them.
To make this programme of boycott
successful, the nation's poets, writers,
artists, theatre workers and all others
active in the cultural realm are asked to
mobilize their creative energies.
Because war crimes are among the most
abominable offences, we hope to see clear
initiatives on the part of all political
parties to ban such criminals from
politics. It is our hope that our people
will loathe and reject all those who
accept such criminals. Our people cannot
accept such an insult to the nation.
Everyone must understand that in today's
world such criminals are not allowed
anywhere to take part in politics. All
those who support them will be looked upon
as accomplices of their crimes.
To conclude we announce the decision to
create a legal committee to prepare
lawsuits by closely investigating the
accusations of murder and torture in 1971.
This committee will prepare cases based on
a realistic judgement of the accusations
of war crimes, crimes against humanity,
and genocide. This committee will provide
assistance with confident arguments in
trying the killers for violating the
Constitution and trampling our national
honour. The people's united efforts and
firm undertaking will make us successful.
Let the consciousness of the Liberation
War be immortal. Let Bangladesh be
victorious.