The New Nation - Internet Edition

T.A.M. Nurul Basher

Very recently, primarily on the occasion of the victory day of 16th December, a call is being made from many quarters to hold trial of the war criminals. Although the sector commanders are in the forefront, other political parties specially Awami league and the left leaning parties are most vocal in this respect and they are mounting pressure on the present government. to hold the war crime trial immediately. However the present Caretaker government or interim government. is of the opinion that they have been thrust on to power at a point of national crises when the country was falling apart centering upon the general election of 22nd Jan 2007 for the 9th Parliament. In the view of the present government. their priority is to create a congenial atmosphere to hold a free and fair election through which the nation can expect a good government who would be benefactor of the people and not so to some specific looters of public fund. Bangladesh has many a serious unresolved issues from the very inception of it in the year 1971. A government such as this one whose tenure is limited and who have fixed agenda to resolve the crises at hand, may not have the time and opportunity to address so many issues as priorities.

I believe they have a point. The present government. came to power through proclamation of state of Emergency by the President. Some legal experts opine that this government. has passed its mandated time of 90 days or 120 days the time frame provided by the Constitution and thereby the government. has lost its legality. In a democracy what people say is law. Therefore this government. is legal so long it derived the popular support and that support shall continue so long the government. performs according to the priority decided by the people. This government. came to power at a time of crises. What crises for? Was it that the general public were asking for war crimes trial, or was it for taking action against institutional corruption which have perforated the whole national fabric from the very day the 1st independent Bangladesh government. set its foot on the Bangladesh soil.

It is true that the AL government enacted a law to try the war criminals and they started the trial. But subsequently it stopped. We really need to have an inquiry as to why it stopped and did not revive in the next 36 years until now. In my view the war crimes trial was rendered unimportant by the activities of the Bangabandhu led AL government. which found its priority not in the effort to create congenial atmosphere for good governance but in the act of loot, plunder and tyranny over the very people who fought the bloody Liberation War themselves without Bangabandhu but put him on to the throne out of emotion and love for him and definitely with great expectation of nation building. People were ready to give up everything in their possession and even eat grass if he asked so.

But alas! Bangabandhu disappointed the nation. He supported his lieutenants who destroyed the country. The only person (Mr. Tajuddin Ahmed) who could have been of some value and who spearheaded the exile government. during the period of Liberation War, was ousted unceremoniously. The result was disastrous.

Subsequent governments. were no better with the exception of the 1st military cabinet of general Zia. Zia tried his best to have government. of reduced corruption. In his cabinet he included the national talents like Dr. Rashid, Engr. B. M. Abbas AT, Prof. Dr. Shamsul Haque, Dr. Fasihuddin Mahtab etc. This government was praised home and abroad as a good government and brought some stability and reduced corruption. (I am personally aware of his effort to address corruption as I involved myself in a case to unearth corruption under his support in which we were successful though at the end some of us had to loose our jobs and President Zia could not help).

After the sad murder of Gen. Zia, the reign of state craft fell in the hands of Gen. Ershad and the country started to taste what organised and institutional corruption is. Even though he was ousted by the so called democratic parties through people's upheaeval for democracy, the parties BNP and AL, coming to power, found this tree of corruption sown and nourished by Gen. Ershad, as a government vehicle to perpetuate their own desire to gain fruitfully. The business of state power became a grand way to become rich in no time. It was an uphoria specially during the last BNP-Jamat coalition government. and the fight between AL and BNP reminded us the fight between the mediaval kings where one survived only through the bloody elimination of the other. In fact there is some basis on which the parties were so bitterly at logger heads.

Both the parties tried their utmost to destroy the state machinery and clutch the administration into their hands. They destroyed the civil service, the judiciary the police force, the taxation department and the education system. The whole country lost its perception as to what is honesty and what is not. A Frankenstine monster of corruption was created by our stallwart political leaders starting from Gen. Ershad in 1981 till Madam Khaleda Zia and her son Tarek Rahman. Bangladesh was like a lake of poison (the poisonous serpent Kalio Nag who lived in the Kalio Daha, lake of poison, drank poison and vomited poison. The serpent was killed by Lord Sri Krishna). We sank in poison of corruption, we drank it and we vomited it.

Amidst such a scenario the Emergency was declared and the present government. supported by the Armed Forces came to power. The aim of this government. is to free the Bangladesh lake from poison of corruption. This task is far more important than addressing the issue of trial of war criminals, which has remained suspended for 36 years. Let the government. do what they have come to do-eradicate corruption for now and for future.

We need to ponder why we have not been able to try the war criminals most of whom were the members of the defeated Pakistani Army. Even though Pakistan was defeated, Bangladesh was still weak compared to India and Pakistan. Let it be clear to everyone that our importance to India who played the part of victorious dominant force was much less compared to Pakistan. The scenario has not changed till today, we are the weakest of the three break way sub-continental nations. We can be strong and respectable only if we can create a non-corrupt society, a task the present government. has undertaken. Prudence dictates that we should not distract them otherwise.

How far the government. has been successful could be questioned. Success has not been enormous but not unsubstantial though. Creation of the independent Anti Corruption Commission, Election Commission and separation of Judiciary are great steps undoubtedly. ACC and EC has progressed in their own way quite successfully even though much is yet to be done. However, we are far away from getting the fruits of justice until the judiciary is managed by the right kind of persons. Though I praise the government. for addressing the issue of corruption and misgovernance and gaining limited success, I would like to caution them that they are still toying with the tail of the multi-headed serpent, the heads of whom are still to be eliminated.

I like to make my views clear about the issue of war crimes trial. It is not that I do not support it, I do but I do not think neither the time is right nor the government. is the right one. As to the utterance of Mr. Muzahid stating that there was no war criminals before and neither there are now, is not true. There had been war crime and we had and still have war criminals amongst us. Mr. Muzahid may say he or his party was not involved. Can he explain the intelligentia killings? Does he have an explanation who killed them? Such things are pointed towards them and they need to come clean. They accepted the invitation by the Pak military to from a government. in 1971. Even though they were powerless in the face of the strong Pak army, they cannot avoid their total responsibility. Nor it is acceptable that they can not identify any person who committed this crime. Jamat needs to accept responsibilities (even though partial) and apologize for their error of judgment and face the consequences thereof.

As to the comment by the pro-Jamat ex-civil servant Mr. Shah Abdul Hannan that the war of 1971 was a civil war and not a freedom struggle, I have the following to say. Mr. Shah Abdul Hannan has established himself as an honest person in the society and no one doubts about his knowledge on taxation having been retired as NBR chairman. But he needs some home work to comment on politics. Freedom fight if successful creates a new nation while civil war is a bloody struggle through which governments and government policies are changed. Lt. Col George Washington defected from British American Army, waged a war of liberation against the British and founded a country what is known today as the United State of America. Civil war during President Abraham Lincoln established civil rights of blacks and made them free from slavery. Subash Bose's INA seiged the British Indian garrison of Imphal. It was a freedom struggle and not civil war. Bloody French revolution threw away monarchy and established democracy and peoples right while the country remained the same as France before and after. It was a civil war. The first Indian freedom fight of 1857 was a freedom struggle and it was neither sepoy mutiny as in the eye of the British nor was it a civil war. It failed to succeed and could not free India. Our brief but bloody skirmishes within our army and civilians combined on 7th November 1975 was a civil war. The War of 1971 on Bangladesh soil was a freedom fight and not a civil war even though it was through Indian assistances, and started between Pak Army and Bengalees and constitutionally Bengalees were part of Pakistan.

Something else of far more importance and consequence I like to remind Mr. Shah Abdul Hannan and his favourite party Jamat-e-Islami. This is about our Liberation War. Our freedom fight is of great importance. I like to draw a history of not so distant past. Pakistani politicians would call the Punjabis and Pathans as the martial race while the Bangalees were not, are short in height and less fair in complexion compared to them and therefore they were destined to rule over Bangalees please note the comment of Gen. Yahia Khan when he said to an American journalist, 'Us kala admiko ham power nehi dengi'. The reason they were martial race and we are not came from the British rule who introduced the concept of martial race and conferred the title to some section of population of undivided India. In 1857, the first War of Independence. (Sepoy mutiny for the British) was fought and it was the Bengal Army which revolted and took control of the Redfort under the command of General Bakth Khan.

Please note the Bengal Army did not include Bengalees only, the members were from all parts of India. After the British were routed out of Delhi and its vicinity they came back to assault Delhi with the help only of Punjabis, Pathans and Gurkhas. Out of a team of 8 engineers who exploded the Kashmiri gate of the Red fort 6 were Punjabis. Thus the Punjabis and Pathans were martial races in the eyes of the British and the name continued during Pakistan period.

I do not like to undermine the patriotism of Punjabis and Pathans today. They have given the proof of their patriotism when they fought in the INA against the British, the majority of the INA forces being Punjabis, Sikhs and Muslims.

Therefore, we needed to prove ourselves that we are not so unmartial and a freedom fight and its victory was essential to set the historical record right. Freedom fight of 1971 is therefore our pride and our identity. In the sub continental perspective, we are a force to recon with. Any Bangladeshi citizen who do not like to recognise freedom struggle denies his/her own identity.

To sum up this discussion it would be my recommendation that the war crimes trial be defered to be executed by the next elected government to come.