11thApril,2015

BangladeshhangstopJamaatleader
WhoisKamaruzzaman?
MuhammadKamaruzzamanisare
nownedintellectual,writer,journalist,
andaseniorleaderofBangladeshJamaat
eIslami.HeistheeditoroftheWeekly
ShonarBangla,hasauthored8books,and
pennedhundredsofar clesinvarious
newspapersandperiodicals.Hejoined
JamaateIslamiin1979andbecamethe
partysAssistantSecretaryGeneralin
thisissue
1992.Hewasalsoapopularstudentlead
erandafoundingmemberofBangladesh
IslamiChha raShibir.Heservedasthe
CentralPresidentofShibirin1978and
79.MrKamaruzzamanhasbeenrepre
sen nghispartyindemocra celec ons
since1986withoutstandingresults.

Authori es in Bangladesh on Saturday executed a senior

Islamist party ocial Muhammad Kamaruzzaman in a preplanned
way at 10pm of 11th April, 2015. He was put to death by hanging in
side the central jail in the capital, Dhaka.

Theexecu ontookplacea erKamaruzzamanrefusedtoseekpresiden alclemency,

paving the way for him to become the second person put to death since tribunals
weresetupmorethanfouryearsagototrysuspectedwarcriminals.Bangladeshexe
cutedanotherJamaateIslamiassistantsecretary,AbdulQuaderMollah,inDecember
2013forsimilarcrimes.
HewasgivenseveraldaystoseekmercytothecountryspresidentAbdulHamidto
avoiddeath.Buthissonsaidhisfatherdidnotseekanymercy.
MyfathersaidonlyAllahcangiveortakelife,notapresident,hesaid.
Mr. Kamaruzzaman was senior Assistant Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaate
Islami,arenownedjournalist,intellectual,columnistandIslamicthinker.
Earlier, the government had filed some baseless, fic ous and concocted charges
againstthisleaderjusttoa aintheirillpoli calinterest.Toprovethefalsecase,rul
ingpartymenwereproducedastheprosecu onwitness.Thecontradictoryandcon
flic ng statements of the witnesses revealed thegovernments malign conspiracy of
thegovernmentbeforethepeopleaboutmurderingthistalentedpoli cian.
Mr.KamaruzzamanwaschargedwiththeShohagpurmasskillingduringthelibera on
warin1971.Butthefactishewasnowayinvolvedwiththeincident.MartyrKama
ruzzaman repeatedly said that hehad never gone to Shohagpur ever in his life me.
EventhegeneralresidentsofShohagpurcannotconfirmthathehadeverbeentothat
place.Thegovernmenthadlodgedfalsecaseagainsthimandarrangedafarcicaltrial.

On13July2010,MrKamaruzzamanwas
arrestedbyAwamiLeaguegovernment,
thepoli calarchrivalofJamaateIslami,
onfalsechargesandisnowbeingconvict
edtodeathbyapoli callymo vatedtri
bunal.

Theconspiracywhichthegovernmenthas
plo edtorecognizea18yearsoldstudent
intheyear1971ascriminalandtheirsub
sequenteorttomurderhimwillbecon
sidered as a s gma zed and blackpart of
thena onalhistory.
Ac ng President of Bangladesh Jamaate
Islami Maqbul Ahmed said in a statement
said,
The blood and sacrifice of martyr Kama
ruzzaman will be treated as the source of
inspira on for the leaders and ac vists of
theIslamicmovement.Hisbloodwilltake
the Islamic movement to the highest pick
ofsuccess.
The history will never forgive those quar
tersthathavekilledhiminten onallyand
assistedinthismalignconspiracy.Thegov
ernmentwillhavetofacetheques onsin
the peoples court one day for this injus
ceandpreplannedmurder.

Whataretheallega onsagainsthim?
ThefascistAwamiregimehasbroughtseveralfalseandfabricatedalle
ga onsagainstMrKamaruzzaman.Theseincludeallega onsofmur
der,massmurder/genocide,torture,humilia on,plunder,etc.during
BangladeshsWarofIndependencein1971.Atotalof7chargeswere
broughtagainsthim.MrKamaruzzamandeniedallofthesebaseless
chargesandpleadednotguilty.
The sole purpose of the special tribu

In general, there are 3 main reasons

nal, supposedly set up to deal with

thatdisqualifytheallega ons:

Crimes against Humanity during

1971 war, is to persecute the top Ja
maateIslami leadership. That is why
theAwamiLeaguegovernmentwasnot
par cularly interested in maintaining
anystandardsinse ngupthecourts,
passing legisla ons for such courts, or
proceeding with the trials. Since the
people of Bangladesh are very sensi
ve and emo onal regarding 1971 In

1. The charges are newly manufac

tured

and

were

never

heard

of! Though the alleged incidents took

placemorethan40yearsago,nosuch
allega ons were brought against Mr
Kamaruzzaman by the rela ves of the
vic ms or the state un l a military
backed Awami League claimed victory
in2009elec ons.

dependence War, it is very easy for a

2. Immediately a er the war, the new

ThirdWorld government to dumb

government of Bangladesh iden fied,

down the historical intricacies and

punished,andinsomecaseskilledthe

treat everyone who opposed inde

local collaborators of the Pakistani Ar

pendence as criminals. Thats the

my. Though Mr Kamaruzzaman was

chancetheAwamiLeaguegovernment

arrested a er the war, the authori es

took. And with the help of a spineless

did not find any complaint against

judiciary, they are set to achieve their

himandhewasreleasedimmediately.

goal of silencing their most eec ve

poli calopponent.

3. Mr Kamaruzzaman was born in

1952. During the war, he was only 19

It was absolutely clear, from the very

years old! It is impossible that an 19

beginning,thatthesecourtsaremere

yearoldwouldassumeleadershiprole

lykangaroocourts,wherestandardsof

of a large paramilitary force like

lawandjus ceareblatantlydisregard

the Albadr or direct a professional

edandtheverdictshavealreadybeen

armedforcelikethePakistaniArmy,as

decidedbeforethetrialshavebegun.

claimed by the delusional state prose

cutors.way before the trials complet

ed.

Whyheisbeingtargeted?
TherearevariousreasonsforAwami
Leaguetotargetapopularleader
likehim:
1.MuhammadKamaruzzamanisa
leaderofJamaateIslami,theonly
poli calpartyinBangladeshwithan
honestleadershipcapableofmoving
thiscountryforwardfromtheruins
ofcorrup on,poverty,andinjus ce.
2.Kamaruzzamanrepresentsthe
youngergenera onofleaderswithin
JamaateIslamiwhoareopento
muchneededreformandreorgani
sa onofthepartyaroundthecul
turalsynthesisofthepeopleof
Bangladesh.
3.Kamaruzzamanhasbeenanout
spokencri coftherulingAwami
Leagueandthroughhiswri ngshe
madepeopleawareofgovernments
corrup on,oppression,andabuseof
power.
4.Kamaruzzamanisoneofthefew
leaderswithavisionforJamaate
IslamiandBangladesh.Withhis
massivegrassrootssupportandhis
intellectualwherewithal,heisina
perfectposi ontobringhisvisionto
reality.
5.Kamaruzzamanbecameaninter
na onalfaceofJamaateIslamidue
tohisdiploma cconnec ons
aroundtheworldandinBangladesh.
Hisunderstandingoftheworldpoli
csandabilitytoelegantlyrepre
sentJamaatattheworldstagewas
unparalleled.
WithKamaruzzamanoutofthe
equa on,theAwamiLeagueas

Howbiasedandpoli cisedwasthecourt?
Though the government and ICT have

courtasis.Hehasalsodesignedaguide

6. In cases where they felt that the

stated that jus ce was the priority, op-

line for the judges and a basic structure

states accusa ons are not enough to

posi on par es Jamaat-e-Islami and

for all the verdicts to come, way before

convict a defendant,the judges added

the BNP accused the prime minis-

thetrialscompleted.

extraaccusa onsthemselvesoutofthe
blue, or advised the prosecu on team

ter Sheikh Hasina of using the tribunal

topersecutethem.

2. A number of the Tribunal members

par cipatedinthesocalledGanaAdalat

In December 2012, conversa ons and

Commission(orPeoplesCourt)thatpre

emailsbetweenthejudgeandaBrussels

judged these cases in the early 1990s.

based lawyer were published, which ac

IndeedtheformerChairmanoftheTribu

cording to The Economist revealed that

nalislistedasamemberoftheSecretari

the government wanted a quick verdict

atoftheCommission.
3. There was clear evidence of collusion

In response, an applica on was sub

between the Tribunal, the prosecu on,

mi edonbehalfofKamaruzzamanfora

andmembersofanan Jamaatorganiza

retrial,whichwasrejected.Followingthe

on during the trial process. The prose

revela ons, the controversial chief Jus

cutorandjudgeswouldmeetregularlyin

ceNizamulHuqresignedfromthepost

secretanddecidehowtheywouldactin

andFazleKabirwasappointedthere.

unisonagainstthedefence.

It was absolutely clear, from the very

4. Former Chairmen of the ICT1, Jus ce

beginning, that these courts are mere

NizamulHuq,admi edthata statemin

ly kangaroo courts, where standards of

ister, Quamrul Islam, pressured him for

lawandjus ceareblatantlydisregarded

quick verdicts and a judge of the Appel

late

cided before the trials have begun. Sev

Court, Jus ce SK Sinha, oered him pro

eralkeyincidentsmadethisobvious:

mo oninreturn.

1.Asrevealedin#SkypeGate,thejudges

5. On several occasions, the judges de

of this mockery of jus ce were directed

claredthattheyhaveapar cularviewof

byZiauddinAhmed,amemberofanoto

theeventsof1971andtheywouldnever

rious an Jamaat group. He was not an

changethatviewirrespec veofwhatev

ocialofthecourtandyet,likeaCzar,he

er evidence or witness tes mony are

controlled every aspect of the tribunal.

presentedbeforethem.

On many occasions, he has wri en or

ders that were handed down by the

cused.Theaccusedhastobeconvicted,
no ma er how. For example, in Mr
Kamaruzzamans case the judges re
fusedtoacceptthechargesagainsthim

the

strong enough to convict him. Even

a er accep ng the states formal
charge, the judges in their final verdict
added two more charges of their own,
of which Kamaruzzaman was not ac
cused.
Suchisthepoli calcommitmentofthe

and the verdicts have already been de

of

easier for them to convict the ac

twice because the charges were not

fromtheInterna onalCrimesTribunal.

Division

to strengthen their charges so that its

Supreme

court.

WatchVideo:
Fallacy of trial:
https://www.youtube.com/
watch?
v=NuAT2Q45EUE&feature=
youtu.be
KamaruzzamanA Victim of
Sheer Injustice
http://goo.gl/ostgKw
http://youtu.be/A07uAA59ppI

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