Ghulam Azam
(Bengali: গোলাম আযম) (born 7 November 1922), is a Bangladeshi political leader who is recognized by the Bangladeshis as one of the worst war criminals of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.[1] The former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, he opposed the independence of Bangladesh both during the liberation war and upon its liberation on December 16, 1971 and lead the formation of Shanti Committee, Razakar and Al-Badr to thwart the freedom fighters of Bangladesh.[2][3][4] He also lobbied against the acknowledgment of new-born Bangladesh after 1971.
Azam became the secretary of the Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, in 1957. Later, he became the Ameer (president) of the Jamaat in East Pakistan in 1969. He was also a participant in the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Alliance in 1967.
On April 12, 1971, Azam and Matiur Rahman Nizami led processions denouncing the independence movement as an Indian conspiracyল
Also, in May, 1971, another Jamaat leader Mawlana Yusuf, a subordinate to Azam, created the Razakar militia in Khulna. The first recruits included 96 Jamaat party members, who started training in an Ansar camp at Shahjahan Ali Road, Khulna.
LATE ANTI-LIBERATIONIST ACTIVITIES
During the war Azam traveled the then West Pakistan to consult the Pakistani leaders.[12] On June 20, 1971, Azam declared in Lahore that the Hindu minority in East Pakistan, under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, are conspiring to secede from Pakistan. He also said in Rawalpindi that the actions of the Pakistan Army in Operation Searchlight were justified in order to preserve the unity of the country. Azam declared that his party (Jamaat) is trying it’s best to curb the activities of pro-independence “Miscreants”.[13] Azam took part in meetings with General Yahiya Khan, the military dictator of Pakistan, and other military leaders, to organize the campaign against Bangladeshi independence.
On August 12, 1971, Azam declared in a statement published in the Daily Sangram that “the supporters of the so-called Bangladesh Movement are the enemies of Islam, Pakistan, and Muslims”.
Under the military tyranny of Yahya Khan East Pakistan earned it’s reputation as a place of endless horror and suffering.[15] The only way to legalize this autocratic repression was to declare an election. So, on October 12, 1971 Yahya Khan declared that an election will be held from November 25 to December 9. Ghulam Azam decided to take part in this election. But suddenly on October 15 Pakistani government declared that, 15 candidates have been elected without any competition. According to the declaration of November 2 as many as 53 candidates were elected without any competition.[16] In this farcical election Jamaat under the leadership of Azam got 14 memberships among those 53. Actually it was a gift from Pakistani govt. so that they could get more help from Jamaat and other anti-Bangladesh parties while fighting the pro-independence forces. Jamaat was the most previleged party in this election, because 14 seats were like a dream to them.
According to Prothom Alo, three intellectuals submitted allegations of war crimes against Ghulam Azam. The activities regarading Bengali culture were submitted by Syed Shamsul Huq, alleged war crimes during 1971 were detailed by Borhanuddin Khan Jahangir and his pro-Pakistan lobbying after 1971 was detailed by Anisuzzaman.[5] Notable pro-Pakistan lobbying of Ghulam Azam after 1971 are as follows:
Azam became the unofficial Ameer of the party while remaining in Bangladesh illegally, as he was denied Bangladeshi citizenship and had overstayed his visitors visa on his Pakistani passport. However, no attempt was made to restrain him, and he moved around openly. His citizenship was granted in 1994 by a decision of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, as the panel of Judges, with Habibur Rahman as the Chief Justice (later chief of the Caretaker government of 1996), decreed that by virtue of his birth he had right to Bangladeshi citizenship.
Though the Jamaat fell out with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the run up to the 1996 elections, it re-established its alliance creating a coalition of 4 parties prior to the 2001 elections. In conjunction with the Islami Oikya Jote and a faction of the Jatiya Party, Jamaat again allied with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the coalition emerged as the winning power.
Ghulam Azam announced his retirement from active politics in late 2000. He was succeeded by Motiur Rahman Nizami.
Ghulam Azam’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami, has been widely accused different organizations as a
WARCRIMINAL NO.2
MOTIUR RAHMAN NIZAMI
(Bengali: মতিউর রহমান নিজামী), (born 31 March 1943) is the current chief (Ameer) of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which is the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh. During Bangladesh Liberation War, he acted as the supreme commander of the Al-Badr militia, which had taken part in various war crimes including killing of hundreds of intellectuals around the country
The Al-Badr militia took active part in raping, capturing and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them.
However, during the 1996 elections, he lost out to both the candidates for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Awami League in his constituency, and Professor Abu Sayed of the Awami League replaced him. Nizami took over as the Ameer from Ghulam Azam in 2001.[9] In the same year, representing his party as part of a four-party alliance including BNP, he won in Pabna-1, receiving 57.68% of the votes.[10] Nizami served as the Industrial Minister from 2003 to 2006, after a two-year term as the Minister of Agriculture.
Nizami was defeated in the general election held on 29th December 2008 as a candidate of 4-party alliance, losing his seat for Pabna-1 to Md. Shamsul Haque by 8.2%. He received 45.6% of the votes, out of which 41.03% votes were from BNP supporters. His opponent representing the Awami League won, having 53.8%.
ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION
The Anti-corruption Commission of Bangladesh indicted Nizami on the GATCO Corruption case, in which he along with several other politicians are alleged to have granted illegally a container-depot contract to the local firm GATCO. [11] A warrant was issued to arrest Nizami along with 12 others on May 15, 2008.
Nizami was accused of conspiring with 12 other politicians to award the contract to GATCO despite the fact that GATCO did not meed the conditions of the tender. The case filed by the Anti-corruption Commission of Bangladesh Govt. alleges that, the deal with GATCO caused a total loss of more than 100 million Bangladeshi Taka to the Government.[12] Nizami denied the charges, which he has said are politically motivated. He was released after two months on bail.
REFERENCE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motiur_Rahman_Nizami
http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/
http://warcriminalsinbangladesh.blogspot.com
http://muktimusician.blogspot.com
http://shonarbangladesh.blogspot.com
http://www.orkut.com/warcriminalsinbangladesh
http://www.orkut.com/moktelhossainmukthi
http://www.facebook.com/muktimusician
(Bengali: গোলাম আযম) (born 7 November 1922), is a Bangladeshi political leader who is recognized by the Bangladeshis as one of the worst war criminals of the Liberation War of Bangladesh.[1] The former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, he opposed the independence of Bangladesh both during the liberation war and upon its liberation on December 16, 1971 and lead the formation of Shanti Committee, Razakar and Al-Badr to thwart the freedom fighters of Bangladesh.[2][3][4] He also lobbied against the acknowledgment of new-born Bangladesh after 1971.
He was a permanent resident of England until 1978, and maintained Pakistani citizenship until 1994 due to the decision by the Bangladeshi government at the time to refuse him citizenship. From 1978 to 1994 he lived in Bangladesh illegally without any authorized Bangladeshi visa.[5][6] In 1994, the Supreme Court upheld the decision to restore his citizenship of Bangladesh as a matter of birth-right.[7] He was the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh until 2000. |
EARLY POLITICAL CAREER
Azam entered politics as a student leader at Dhaka University, and in 1947 became the Secretary General of the Dhaka University Central Students Union. Among his earliest campaigns was participation in the Bengali Language Movement during 1950s. He submitted the memorandum to the Pakistan government demanding Bengali as one of the state languages, on behalf of the students of Dhaka University, following the demand made by Dhirendranath Datta in the Pakistan Constituent Assembly in February 1948 and the resulting nationalist uprising in East Bengal. Azam, however, distanced himself from the Language Movement when it became clear that it was becoming a rallying call for a secular Bengali nationalist movement rather than one focused on Bengali Muslim activism alone. Since his return to Bangladesh in the 1970s Ghulam Azam has never participated in the official commemorations of the Language Movement and he and his party celebrate that event separatelyAzam became the secretary of the Islamist political party, Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, in 1957. Later, he became the Ameer (president) of the Jamaat in East Pakistan in 1969. He was also a participant in the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Alliance in 1967.
EARLY INITIATIVES WITH SHANTI COMMITTEE
During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, Azam played a central role in the formation of Peace Committees, which declared the independence movement to be a conspiracy hatched by India.[2] Azam was one of the founding members of this organization.[2] After the genocide of 25th March Pakistani forces lost control of Bangladesh. To help control this situation Pakistani army set up a network of peace committees superimposed upon the normal civil administration as army couldn’t rely upon that administration. Peace Committee members were drawn from Jamaat-e-Islami led by Ghula Azam, Muslim League and Biharis. Peace committee served as the agent of army, informing on civil administration as well as general public. They were also in charge of confiscating and redistribution of shops and lands from Hindu and pro-independence Bengali- mainly relatives and friends of the freedom fighters. Almost 10 million Bangladeshis fled to neighboring India as refugees. The Shanti Committee also recruited Razakars. Razakars were common criminals who had thrown their lots with the army.On April 12, 1971, Azam and Matiur Rahman Nizami led processions denouncing the independence movement as an Indian conspiracyল
FORMING RAZAKARS AND AL-BADR
During Azam’s leadership of Jamaat-e-Islami, Ashraf Hossain, a leader of Jamaat’s student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha, created the Al-Badr militia in Jamalpur District on 22 April, 1971.[3] Current Jamaat Ameer (supreme leader) Matiur Rahman Nizami was the supreme commander of this militia. Nizami was a leader of Islami Chhatra Shongha then.Also, in May, 1971, another Jamaat leader Mawlana Yusuf, a subordinate to Azam, created the Razakar militia in Khulna. The first recruits included 96 Jamaat party members, who started training in an Ansar camp at Shahjahan Ali Road, Khulna.
LATE ANTI-LIBERATIONIST ACTIVITIES
During the war Azam traveled the then West Pakistan to consult the Pakistani leaders.[12] On June 20, 1971, Azam declared in Lahore that the Hindu minority in East Pakistan, under the leadership of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, are conspiring to secede from Pakistan. He also said in Rawalpindi that the actions of the Pakistan Army in Operation Searchlight were justified in order to preserve the unity of the country. Azam declared that his party (Jamaat) is trying it’s best to curb the activities of pro-independence “Miscreants”.[13] Azam took part in meetings with General Yahiya Khan, the military dictator of Pakistan, and other military leaders, to organize the campaign against Bangladeshi independence.
On August 12, 1971, Azam declared in a statement published in the Daily Sangram that “the supporters of the so-called Bangladesh Movement are the enemies of Islam, Pakistan, and Muslims”.
Under the military tyranny of Yahya Khan East Pakistan earned it’s reputation as a place of endless horror and suffering.[15] The only way to legalize this autocratic repression was to declare an election. So, on October 12, 1971 Yahya Khan declared that an election will be held from November 25 to December 9. Ghulam Azam decided to take part in this election. But suddenly on October 15 Pakistani government declared that, 15 candidates have been elected without any competition. According to the declaration of November 2 as many as 53 candidates were elected without any competition.[16] In this farcical election Jamaat under the leadership of Azam got 14 memberships among those 53. Actually it was a gift from Pakistani govt. so that they could get more help from Jamaat and other anti-Bangladesh parties while fighting the pro-independence forces. Jamaat was the most previleged party in this election, because 14 seats were like a dream to them.
FLEEING FROM BANGLADESH
Ghulam Azam wrote some of his activities of 9 months of the war in his biography Jibone Ja Dekhlam (What I have seen in life). According to his book, Azam claims that he was on way to Dhaka from West Pakistan on 3 December when midway through the flight, the plane changed direction to Saudi Arabia because of the formation of India-Bangladesh joint force against Pakistan. A few weeks later East Pakistan emerged as newly independent country Bangladesh and Ghulam Azam along with his political party Jamaat-e-Islami was banned by new country’s government and Azam’s Bangladesh citizenship was cancelled.[citation needed] However, New York Times reported that Azam left East Pakistan due to his opposition to the independence movement.YEARS IN EXILE
After the war, the Bangladesh government declared the newly independent country to be secular, and mandated separation of religion from the state, and therefore sought to remove the influence of religious fundamentalists from national life, and religion based political parties were banned. In addition, the Jamaat and its leaders, because they were seen as guilty of collaboration with the Pakistan occupation forces during the Bangladesh Liberation War, were similarly restricted from participation in the new country’s political scenario. Azam’s citizenship in the new-born Bangladesh was revoked as he was one of the primary collaborators, and he refused an offer of amnesty from the then Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to return to Bangladesh and renounce Jamaat politics,[citation needed] choosing to live in exile in Pakistan and England until 1978, when President Ziaur Rahman restored multi-party democratic system, Jamaat re-launched itself, seizing the opportunity, and soon Ghulam Azam returned to Bangladesh on a temporary visa. While in Pakistan, he was a leader of what was left of the Pakistani branch of the JamaatANTI-BANGLADESH LOBBYING AFTER 1971
After the victory of the Joint forces of the Indian Army and Mukti Bahini over Pakistan on 16th December, 1971 a new nation named Bangladesh was born. Azam continued his anti-Bangladesh and pro-Pakistan activities even after 1971. He tried to convince many political leaders of Middle-East and Pakistan not to support the new born nation. A complete description of these lobbies are found in the writings of Dhaka University Professor Anisuzzaman.[5] Mr. Anisuzzaman submitted all the allegations against Golam Azam to the People’s Court in 1992. People’s Court was established as a mass movement to try war criminals and anti-independence activists by Jahanara Imam and others. Jahanara Imam held this unprecedented Peoples’ Court as a symbolic trial of Ghulam Azam where thousands of people gathered and the court gave verdict that Azam’s offences committed during the Liberation War deserve capital punishment.According to Prothom Alo, three intellectuals submitted allegations of war crimes against Ghulam Azam. The activities regarading Bengali culture were submitted by Syed Shamsul Huq, alleged war crimes during 1971 were detailed by Borhanuddin Khan Jahangir and his pro-Pakistan lobbying after 1971 was detailed by Anisuzzaman.[5] Notable pro-Pakistan lobbying of Ghulam Azam after 1971 are as follows:
- After the liberation of Bangladesh Azam, staying in Pakistan, created an organization named Purbo Pakistan Punoruddhar Committee (East Pakistan Revival Committee) along with anti-Bangladesh activists like Mahmud Ali and Khaja Khoyeruddin. Azam tried to strengthen the international movement to re-establish East Pakistan. Accordingly he kept claiming himself as the Ameer of East Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami many years after the elimination of East Pakistan.
- In 1972, Azam formed Purbo Pakistan Punoruddhar Committee in London and conspired with others to replace Bangladesh with East Pakistan. In 1973, he lectured against Bangladesh in the annual conference of Federation of Students’ Islamic Societies held in Manchester and conference of UK Islamic Commission held in Lester. In 1974, he arranged a meeting of Purbo Pakistan Punoruddhar Committee with Pakistanis like Mahmud Ali. As they had already failed to establish a Pakistan within Bangladesh, they decided to lead their movement towards the formation of a confederation combining Bangladesh and Pakistan. In this meeting Azam explained the necessity of working for the movement within Bangladesh though it was a bit risky then. In, 1977 in a meeting held in the Holy Trinity Church College, Azam expressed it again. He came to Bangladesh in 1978 with a Pakistani passport and Bangladeshi visa only to make his dream of Pakistan-Bangladesh confederation come true.
- Ghulam Azam participated in the International Islamic Youth Conference held in Riyad in 1972 and begged the help of all Muslim countries to re-establish East Pakistan. From 1973 to 1976 he met Saudi King seven times and asked him not to acknowledge Bangladesh and never to help this country by any means. He lectured against Bangladesh again in the international conference arranged by Rabeta-e-Alam Al-Islami in Mecca in 1974 and at King Abdul Aziz University in 1977.
- Azam lobbyied against the acknowledgment of new born Bangladesh in the conference of Foreign ministers of the Muslim countries held in Bengazi in 1973. In the same year he lectured in the Islamic Youth Conference held in Tripoli which was clearly against the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.
- In 1973 Ghulam Azam urged everybody to participate in the movement of combining Bangladesh with Pakistan in the annual conference of Muslim Students’ Association of America and Canada held at Michigan State University.
- Azam lectured against Bangladesh again in 1977, in the international conference of Islamic Federation of Students’ Organizations held at Istanbulল
REHABILITATION IN INDEPENDENT BANGLADESH
In 1978, then Bangladesh President Ziaur Rahman allowed Azam to return to Bangladesh. Ghulam Azam returned to Bangladesh on a temporary visa with a Pakistani passport.[citation needed] But he had been living in Bangladesh from 1978 to 1994 as a Pakistani national without any valid visa to stay in Bangladesh.Azam became the unofficial Ameer of the party while remaining in Bangladesh illegally, as he was denied Bangladeshi citizenship and had overstayed his visitors visa on his Pakistani passport. However, no attempt was made to restrain him, and he moved around openly. His citizenship was granted in 1994 by a decision of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, as the panel of Judges, with Habibur Rahman as the Chief Justice (later chief of the Caretaker government of 1996), decreed that by virtue of his birth he had right to Bangladeshi citizenship.
Though the Jamaat fell out with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party in the run up to the 1996 elections, it re-established its alliance creating a coalition of 4 parties prior to the 2001 elections. In conjunction with the Islami Oikya Jote and a faction of the Jatiya Party, Jamaat again allied with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the coalition emerged as the winning power.
Ghulam Azam announced his retirement from active politics in late 2000. He was succeeded by Motiur Rahman Nizami.
Ghulam Azam’s party, Jamaat-e-Islami, has been widely accused different organizations as a
WARCRIMINAL NO.2
MOTIUR RAHMAN NIZAMI
(Bengali: মতিউর রহমান নিজামী), (born 31 March 1943) is the current chief (Ameer) of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which is the largest Islamic political party in Bangladesh. During Bangladesh Liberation War, he acted as the supreme commander of the Al-Badr militia, which had taken part in various war crimes including killing of hundreds of intellectuals around the country
JAMAAT AND AL-BADR ACTIVIST
Nizami rose in the ranks of the Jamaat-e-Islami in East Pakistan in the 1960s, after being a leader of a student organization, Islamic Chhatro Shango (now Islami Chhatro Shibir). During the liberation war of 1971, Nizami actively supported the cause of West Pakistan and formed the Al-Badr Party in which he acted as the supreme commander of the Al-Badr Militia.[1][2] As the leader of Al-Badr, Nizami advocated deadly violence against minority Hindus, and in an article in the Daily Sangram published in 14 November 1971, Nizami claimed, “It is our conviction that the day is not far off when, standing side by side with our armed forces, our youth will raise the victorious flag of Islam the world over by defeating the Hindu Army and finishing off Hindustan”.[1][3] Nizami was then well known as “Moitya Rajakar (মইত্যা রাজাকার)” for his anti-liberation activitiesThe Al-Badr militia took active part in raping, capturing and killing of Bangladeshis who supported the liberation, including a pre-planned massacre on December 14, 1971, when the Al-Badr militia along with Pakistan Army rounded up hundreds of doctors, professors, writers, and other Bengali intellectuals, and executed them.
POLITICAL CAREER
Under the rule of Ziaur Rahman, top Jamaat leaders such as Ghulam Azam and Nizami whose party were banned by the subsequent government after liberation, returned to Bangladesh in 1978 and revived the Jamaat party. Nizami emerged as a key national leader of the Jamaat, organising the Islami Chhatra Shibir (Muslim Students Organisation), which serves as the youth wing of the Jamaat. In 1991, he was elected as a Member of Parliament, representing Jamaat-e-Islami for the constituency of Pabna-1, and was Jamaat’s Parliamentary Party leader during until 1994.However, during the 1996 elections, he lost out to both the candidates for the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and the Bangladesh Awami League in his constituency, and Professor Abu Sayed of the Awami League replaced him. Nizami took over as the Ameer from Ghulam Azam in 2001.[9] In the same year, representing his party as part of a four-party alliance including BNP, he won in Pabna-1, receiving 57.68% of the votes.[10] Nizami served as the Industrial Minister from 2003 to 2006, after a two-year term as the Minister of Agriculture.
Nizami was defeated in the general election held on 29th December 2008 as a candidate of 4-party alliance, losing his seat for Pabna-1 to Md. Shamsul Haque by 8.2%. He received 45.6% of the votes, out of which 41.03% votes were from BNP supporters. His opponent representing the Awami League won, having 53.8%.
ALLEGATIONS OF CORRUPTION
The Anti-corruption Commission of Bangladesh indicted Nizami on the GATCO Corruption case, in which he along with several other politicians are alleged to have granted illegally a container-depot contract to the local firm GATCO. [11] A warrant was issued to arrest Nizami along with 12 others on May 15, 2008.
Nizami was accused of conspiring with 12 other politicians to award the contract to GATCO despite the fact that GATCO did not meed the conditions of the tender. The case filed by the Anti-corruption Commission of Bangladesh Govt. alleges that, the deal with GATCO caused a total loss of more than 100 million Bangladeshi Taka to the Government.[12] Nizami denied the charges, which he has said are politically motivated. He was released after two months on bail.
REFERENCE:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motiur_Rahman_Nizami
http://www.genocidebangladesh.org/
http://warcriminalsinbangladesh.blogspot.com
http://muktimusician.blogspot.com
http://shonarbangladesh.blogspot.com
http://www.orkut.com/warcriminalsinbangladesh
http://www.orkut.com/moktelhossainmukthi
http://www.facebook.com/muktimusician
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