The Jamaat’s last-ditch battle

~~Abdul Gaffar Choudhury

Since the verdict of the International Tribunal for crimes against humanity was pronounced, on one hand it has caused countrywide rejoicing among the people and on the other Jamaat tried to create anarchy in the country by calling hartal.

They did not succeed because of lack of public support. So they followed Naxalite tactics of looting and arsoning public property. They tried to attack the police and 13 people lost their lives on one day in different parts of the country (the number may rise). Jamaat is trying to keep the violent agitation unabated but it is clear that without political support or sympathy, they are going to lose the battle.
It was proved once again that terrorism can never win a battle without support from the people. The liberation war of 1971 was successful because it was not a terrorist movement. It was an uprising of the people with arms for their independence. Though Jamaat in Bangladesh politics claim themselves to be an Islamic party they did not follow the path of Islam. Islam never preached terrorism.

The Prophet (PBUH) and his Sahabas were repeatedly attacked by the nonbelievers, but he did not respond to their attack by resorting to the same terrorist method. He formed the Muslim army, became the leader and fought bravely against the enemies openly and defeated the opponents.

Jamaat claims they are the true followers of the Prophet (PBUH), but in the subcontinent their method of operation is anything but Islamic. In the 50s they started an anti-Ahmedia riot in Punjab and 50,000 people were killed. They were all Muslim’s. The Lahore High Court tried Moulana Maududi, the-then Jamaat Supremo, and found him guilty of the mass massacre and the verdict was death penalty. That penalty was revoked under the military rule of Ayub Khan, under the heavy pressure of the-then Saudi King.

In Bangladesh also they could oppose the creation of Bangladesh peacefully by convincing people that the unity of Pakistan should be preserved. Their plea was rejected by the people in the 1970 election and there was a massive defeat for them. They took revenge against the people by joining the invading Pakistani army and assisting them in mass murder.
They are also responsible for the killings of the intellectuals and raping and murdering of thousands of women. Among their victims the largest number was Muslims. For these heinous crimes they were never forgiven by the people and there was always the demand to try and punish them for their crimes against humanity and the country.

They could avoid this trial and punishment for almost 40 years because of the rise of the anti-liberation forces and their continuation in power for a long time in Bangladesh. They have strengthened themselves with the help of some Middle Eastern regimes including the Saudis and built a strong economic foothold in the country. By using religious slogans and huge amounts of money they established their absolute control in thousands of mosques and madrasas.
They created a strong economic network by establishing banks, insurance companies, foundations and NGOs. They infiltrated the media and now a number of print and electronic media outlets are under their control and helping them in their misleading propaganda.

Now Jamaat is a formidable opponent against the democratic and pro-liberation politics of Bangladesh. Even they got the BNP, the second largest political party in Bangladesh, as their ally. So, it was not very easy for Sheikh Hasina when she came to power the second time to start trials of these war criminals and punish them. There were strong opposition from some national and international circles but she showed her courage and started the trial after arresting the main war criminals.
The first verdict was against Bachchu Razakar who got death sentence. The whole country supported the verdict and rejoiced at the decision. But when Kader Mollah, another war criminal was given the life sentence, people especially the vast young generation expressed their dissatisfaction and gathered in Shahbagh square which has been compared to the Tahrir square of Cairo. Their one and only demand is the death penalty for all the war criminals. The demand for death penalty for the war criminals is not a new one. For more than three decades people of Bangladesh are demanding the trial of the war criminals and their proper punishment. A movement grew out of this demand, “Ghatak Dalal Nirmul’ movement, and a mock public trial was held in Dhaka. The then BNP government tried to prevent it with force but failed.

In this trial the war criminals including Ghulam Azam was sentenced to death. Many people think this mock trial created the moral basis for the verdict of the present tribunal. When people saw some of the criminals were escaping capital punishment they assembled in hundreds of thousands at Shahbagh square demanding capital punishment for all the main accused.

To oppose this public demand and to crush the movement Jamaat adopted the method of terrorism. Their cadres started assembling in some places and suddenly started to burn vehicles and buses with passengers and killed one blogger and wounded another who were supporting the Shahbagh movement. These attacks angered the public and they resolutely started opposing Jamaat without violence.  Jamaat was discredited thoroughly and isolated from the people.
The government and the Tribunals were facing a dilemma: if the Tribunals go with the death penalty all the supporters of the war criminals might say it is a mob trial not a fair one; if they do not announce death penalty then both the government and the Tribunals would be accused by a section of people. The Tribunals will be accused that the verdict was given under the threat on their lives by the Jamaat-Shibir.

So, the third verdict giving death penalty to Delwar Hussain Sayedee is a turning point in the present situation of Bangladesh. This has ended all the speculations about the trial and the suspicion of the government’s motives. Jamaati terrorism could not prevent the Tribunal from announcing a death penalty for Sayedee and the suspicion that the Hasina government was making underhand dealings with Jamaat proved to be a false and purposeful rumour.
Now the picture is clear. The people are far more strongly behind the government and on the other hand the Jamaatis are prepared for their last ditch battle.

By the time my column will be published this number of casualties may increase and violence may escalate in other places of the country. But it will not succeed without public support. This will follow the Naxalite and Sharbohara movement which was most powerful in Bangladesh and West Bengal a few years ago.
Now the government should assist the Shahbagh movement to keep their unity and vigilance against the Jamaati violence and confront the fierce and desperate activities of Jamaat by using minimum force.

The successful trial of the enemies of humanity will begin a new chapter in the democratic politics of Bangladesh. The curse of ultra fundamentalism and communalism which flourishes along with terrorist tactics will lose its power and influence and our most cherished goal for democracy and secularism may find its permanent root in Bangladesh.
Everything depends on the success of these trials and the proper punishment of the enemies of humanity and the people.  

Courtesy: The Independent (Edited Version)