[Bangla Daily Star] Historian Muntassir Mamoon yesterday told International Crimes Tribunal-1 how some political parties and their leaders, including Jamaat-e-Islami...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
and its former ameer Ghulam Azam, aided the Pak occupation forces to commit genocide during the Liberation War.
He said this at his three-hour-long deposition before the tribunal dealing with the crimes against humanity case against Ghulam Azam.
Ghulam Azam was the ameer (chief) of the East Pakistain (now Bangladesh) Jamaat-e-Islami in 1971 and Muntassir was the first prosecution witness at the trial yesterday.
Muntassir, 61, a professor of the Department of History of Dhaka University, narrated the brutal role some auxiliary forces, including the Peace Committees, Razakars and Al-Badr played during the war. The forces were formed by the leaders of the Jamaat and some other political parties.
"We who were in the country [Bangladesh] at the time [during the war] saw and heard about the brutal activities of the Razakar Bahini [force], Al-Badr and the Peace Committees," said Muntassir. He was a third-year history student at Dhaka University and was in Dhaka until October 1971.
With around 40 years' experience in research on the Liberation War, Muntassir said the leaders of those parties, including Ghulam Azam, instigated and provoked members of the Peace Committees and the forces to commit brutal acts like killing, rape and looting.
Muntassir said those leaders gave members of the forces licence to kill through their political speeches.
Muntassir said he was in Pallabi in the capital until March 29, 1971. The majority of the inhabitants of the Mirpur area were not Bangalees and they helped the Pak military kill Bangladeshis and loot their homes. However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
some families survived with the help of non-Bangalees.
He said people read the newspapers to know about the steps of the government and its allies during the war. "We also looked into the activities of 'myrmidons' in those newspapers since the Paks referred to freedom fighters as myrmidons," he said, adding that they also relied on the BBC, Radio Australia, Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra and Akashbani to crosscheck the authenticity of the news.
After March 1971, different wings of the Mohammedan League, Jamaat-e-Islami, PDP and the Peoples' Party helped the central government of Pakistain. "However,
a lie repeated often enough remains a lie...
the role of the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Mohammedan League, as the main political parties, was more than that of the others," Muntassir said.
Their first step was to meet Tikka Khan, governor of East Pakistain, in the first week of April 1971, when the Pak occupation forces were conducting mass killings and lootings throughout the country, he said.
Nurul Amin and Ghulam Azam were well known among the leaders of the political parties. "Upon their [Nurul Amin and Ghulam Azam] suggestion and persuasion, Shanti Bahini [Peace Committees] were formed," said the witness, adding that the peace committee had later been decentralised right up to the grassroots level.
The collaborator forces--Razakar, Al-Badr and Al-Shams--were formed later on in places where Jamaat-e-Islami influence was more significant.
"When I say Jamaat, I mean Jamaat, including its student wings and front organizations," he explained.
He said if one looked at the newspapers of that period, one would find speeches of the then ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Ghulam Azam prominently displayed.
The leaders of those parties had encouraged others to join the collaborator forces and committees and Ghulam Azam played a vital role in aiding the Pak military, the witness said.