Nizami to die for war crimes:Daily Sun

Motiur Rahman Nizami The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) sentenced Jamaat incumbent Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami for his involvement in crimes against humanity committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. The ICT-1 passed the verdict in the presence of accused Nizami in the jam-packed court room on Wednesday. A number of 10 war crimes accused, mostly Jamaat and few BNP leaders were co
nvicted earlier on war crimes charge. Death sentence of one accused namely Abdul Kader Molla was already executed. But it is for the first time that the incumbent chief of the anti-liberation party Jamaat has been awarded capital punishment. Now 71, Nizami was facing 16 counts of charges. Eight of the charges were proved beyond reasonable doubt while eight others were not proved. Out of eight, he was awarded death sentence for each of the four charges and life imprisonment for four other counts. He, however, was acquitted of eight charges. At 11:05 am, tribunal-1 chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim along with two other members came to the courtroom. Nizami was taken to the dock 5 minutes ago. The three judges read 24 page summary of the total 204 page verdict. Tribunal member Justice Anwarul Haque read out the preamble and justified trial of Nizami. Explaining delay in passing the judgment on the instant case, he said the judges do not reconcile with or give in to pressure of any quarter. They go by the constitution and law. The judge threw some light on the crimes against humanity committed by Nizami. Then Justice Jahangir Hossain said Nizami was president of Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS) and commander of infamous Al-Badr. Jamaat created the armed militia like Al-Badr. Jamaat along with its student wing ICS and auxiliary forces realised its agenda to resist liberation war through planned killing, rape and arson. Being head of ICS and Al Badr, Nizami is responsible for all crimes and liable to be punished. He is also liable for intellectual killing at the fag end of liberation war. He gave moral support to his subordinates. Justice Jahangir Hossain further said trial of Nizami should not be termed as political. Political leaders have impunity from criminal charges. Rather, the trial has been initiated responding to public demand to perform unfinished task of liberation war. At this stage, tribunal chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim started to read judgment at 12:00pm. He read out the charges which were proved and which were not. After elaborating the contents of important charges, the presiding judge eventually came to sentence portion. The charges which were considered base for death sentence include 2, 4, 6 and 16. On the other hand, charge nos 1, 3, 7 and 8 were considered for life imprisonment. Meanwhile, charge nos 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 were not proved. Nizami was acquitted of these counts. Death sentence charges Charge 2 On May 10, 1971 Nizami held a meeting with the local members of pro-Jamaat agent peace committee and Rajakars at Ruposhi primary school at Bousgari village at Sathia in Pabna. At that meeting, he announced that Pakistan forces were due to come to the area to ensure peace. Later, on May 14, the troops came and killed 450 people of Baushbarhi and Demra villages at Sathia. They also violated 30 to 40 women and forced many others to leave the country at the behest of Nizami and his associates’ instigation and assistance. Charge 4 A group of Razakars at the behest of Nizami’s order killed Habibur Rahman Sarder near a bus-stop at Karamja village in Pabna for helping the freedom fighters in April, 1971. Nizami instigated Pak forces to cordon the house of a Hindu man, Megha Thakur at the same village on May 8. Several men were killed and three women raped there. Later, the house was looted and torched. Charge 6 On Nov 27, 1971, the Pakistan Army and Rajakars raided Dhulaurha village of Pabna to detain freedom fighters. A number of 52 people including women and children were killed there. One victim was identified as Dr Abdul Awal. The houses were looted and set ablaze. Prosecution said 30 people were brought to a local school and shot dead. The operation was conducted at the behest of Nizami guidance. After the army left, Razakars led by Nizami held 22 more and killed them near the Ichamoti River. Charge 16 At the fag end of Liberation War, Al Badr killed intellectuals of the country. Being head of Al Badr, Nizami orchestrated and caused killing of intellectuals on December 14, 1971. Life imprisonment charges Charge 1 Mawlana Kasim Uddin, the then headmaster of Pabna Zilla School, was involved in pro-liberation campaign. On June 4, Pakistan forces picked up him. He was persecuted near Nurpur Power House in the presence of Nizami. On June 10, he was killed on the bank of Ichamati River. Nizami is accused of guiding the occupation force to hold the ill-fated teacher and kill him. Charge 3 The camp of Pakistani occupation forces was housed in the Mohammadpur Physical Training Institute during a period from May to December, 1971. Later, Rajakar and Al-Badr also used the place as their camps. As chief of Al Badr group, Nizami regularly visited the place where auxiliary forces abetted the Pak Army to unleash a reign of terror during the war. The intellectuals were taken to the place blindfolded and killed. Besides, women were raped and persecuted there. Nizami also held meeting with Pak forces and hatched conspiracy to commit war crimes. Charge 7 At dead of the night of December 3, 1971, being instructed by Nizami, the Pak army cordoned Brishalikha village in Pabna. One Sohrab Ali was drugged out of his home. He was tortured to disclose information about his freedom fighter son Md Adbul Latif Selim. Later, he was shot dead in presence of his family members. Charge 8 Nizami and Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, then the secretary of ICS, visited the old MP Hostel at Nakhalpara in the capital on Aug 30, 1971. Nizami instigated Pak forces to kill several youths including Shafi Imam Rumi, son of Shaheed Janani (Mother of the Martyrs) Jahanara Imam. Badi and Jalal were also killed there. Charges not proved Charge nos 5, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15 were not proved and Nizami was acquitted of the counts. Attitude of Nizami in the dock Nizami entered the tribunal premises with a Jinnah cap upon his head at 9:30 am. As he was later taken to the courtroom at the first floor of the tribunal building, he was allowed to sit on a chair in the dock. He seemed to be under tension. His body language showed he was in some sort of unrest. All along he was disquiet. He removed the cap from his head and kept it on the wooden structure of the dock. He was seen to touch his fingers on face and nose frequently. Closing eyes, he was moving his fingers with tension. Background Nizami was the president of the then Jamaat’s student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha (ICS) in 1971. According to the case documents, he was involved in the murder of 601 unarmed people and violation of 31 women. Being an auxiliary force of Pakistani occupation army in abetting the war crimes, infamous Al Badr was formed with the members of ICS and Nizami led it. Another charge against him is that he failed to dissuade his subordinates from committing the crimes against humanity. He is also indicted for planning intellectual killing at the fag end of the liberation war in 1971. Innumerable educationists, physicians, musicians, poets and journalists were killed by the war criminals in a bid to render the country devoid of knowledge and intellect. Conviction in other cases In May 2008, the Anti-corruption Commission of Bangladesh indicted Nizami in the GATCO Corruption case, in which he along with several other politicians are alleged to have illegally granted a container-depot contract to the local firm GATCO. A warrant was issued to arrest Nizami along with 12 others on May 15, 2008. He was charged with conspiring with 12 other politicians to award the contract to GATCO although the company did not meet the conditions of the tender. The prosecution alleged that the deal with GATCO caused a total loss of more than Tk 100 million to the national exchequer. Nizami denied the charges as being politically motivated and was enlarged on bail. At last, he was awarded capital punishment in 10-truck arms haul case in Chittagong. On January 30, a court of Chittagong pronounced the verdict. Political career Following the assassination of the Father of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman along with most of his family members on August 15, 1975, Ziaur Rahman became president in 1977. He allowed top Jamaat leaders including Ghulam Azam and Nizami to return to Bangladesh in 1978. They revived the Jamaat party which became the largest Islamist party in the country. Nizami emerged as a key leader of the Jamaat. Nizami took over as the Ameer of Jamaat from Ghulam Azam in 2001. That year, he contested parliamentary election as a candidate of 4-party alliance led by BNP and was elected lawmaker from Pabna-1 constituency. From 2001-2003, he served as the Minister of Agriculture, followed by three years as the Industries Minister (2003 to 2006). He was defeated in the 2008 general election. As he was an alleged war criminal, freedom fighters and members of various pro-liberation organizations held protest rally in the capital against the BNP government’s decision to appoint him a minister. They said an alleged war criminal should not be allowed to fly national flag of independent Bangladesh on his car. Arrest of Nizami Nizami was arrested on June 29, 2010, from in front of the National Press Club after a magistrate court in Dhaka issued warrant of arrest against him for hurting religious sentiments of Muslims. On July 22 the same year he was shown arrested in the war crimes case. The ICT indicted him in the case on May 28, 2012.