Trial of Jamaat, war prisoners big challenge: Nirmul Committee

Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee on Saturday said that the trial of Jamaat and 195 Pakistani prisoners of war on charge of war crimes committed during the 1971 War for Independence would be big challenges for the International Crimes Tribunal.
Committee president Shahriar Kabir, responding to reporters at a press conference at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity, also said that the number of the tribunals, necessary equipment and skilled manpower should be increased immediately to speed up the disposal of cases pending with it.
The Committee arranged the press conference to inform the media about the programmes taken by its two-day seventh national conference held in Dhaka on Thursday and Friday.
Expressing concern, Shahriar said that the hearing in the appeals filed by the people convicted of war crimes was taking long time in the Appellate Division. He demanded early disposal of the appeals.
Reading out a written statement, he said that the committee would wage a greater movement in 2018 if the trial of Jamaat, Nezame Islami, Muslim League and their collaborators, including Peace Committee, Razakar, Al-Badr, Al-Shams and Mujaheed Bahini, on charge of war crimes as organisations was not started by 2017.
He said that the committee would plant 30 lakh trees in home and abroad since March 25 to keep the memories of 30 lakh martyrs ever green.
Shahriar urged the government to observe March 25 as the national genocide day and to take diplomatic initiatives for the recognition of the 1971 genocide in Bangladeshis by other countries.
Commenting on the relevance of the movement of the committee, its vice-president Muntassir Mamoon alleged that primary and secondary textbooks were made communal while the pro-liberation government was in power.
He said, ‘The textbooks were communalised. There is distortion of history. All these were done to satisfy Hefazat-e-Islam.’
Committee vice-president Shyamoli Nasreen Chowdhury also spoke. 
On March 27, 2014, the war crimes investigation agency submitted investigation report into the alleged war crimes committed by the Jamaat-e-Islami as an organisation in 1971 to the prosecution. The prosecution is yet to submit any formal charge against the party.
On October 26, 2014, investigation agency chief Md Abdul Hannan Khan said that the agency had been gathering evidence of war crimes committed by 195 prisoners of war of Pakistan army, set free under the 1974 tripartite agreement.
According to the investigation agency, over 500 war crimes cases were pending with the agency for investigation.

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