Questioning the transparency of the International Crimes Tribunals, opposition BNP on Thursday said the country’s people will not accept if anyone is punished with a political motive.
“Echoing Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s family, we would like to say we also want transparent and fair trial. The people of Bangladesh can’t accept if any individual and quarter are punished only with a political motive,” said BNP acting secretary general Mira Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
The BNP spokesman came up with the remark while addressing a rally at the city’s Suhrawardy Udyan.
As part of their countrywide demonstration programme, the Dhaka City unit of BNP arranged the rally protesting the government’s blueprint to annihilate the political rivals and destroy the country’s all institutions.
Earlier, on Wednesday, while giving party’s reaction to a judgment of a tribunal against its standing committee member Salauddin Quader, Fakhrul announced the programme.
The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on Tuesday found Salauddin Quader guilty of war crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971 and awarded him death penalty. This is the first verdict against any BNP leader on war crimes charges.
Addressing the rally, Fakhrul said BNP has long been saying that it wants the trial of the crimes against humanity committed during the country’s Liberation War, and the trial must be transparent, impartial and of international standard.
“We’ve also said the trial must not be held with a political motive…but the government is holding the trial to annihilate its political opponents.”
He claimed that questions have already been raised by various quarters both at home and abroad about the transparency and international standard of the trial.
The BNP spokesman said the people of the country want to know who had spared and sent back to Pakistan 195 identified war criminals who brutally tortured Bangalees during the 1971 Liberation War.
Referring to the leakage of the tribunal’s judgment against Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, Fakhrul said it is now a big question in public mind what kind of trial is being held.
“Now it’s clear that as long as this regime is in power, there’ll be no rule of law, people’s rights won’t be established and their all hopes and aspirations get shattered and the country’s independence and sovereignty will be at stake,” he said.
Fakhrul alleged that the government has completed all preparations to hold the next election under a party government in a bid to hang onto power.
“The government doesn’t want to hold the polls under a non-party caretaker government as they know they all will lose their security money if the election is held under a non-party administration,” the BNP spokesman observed.
He urged the country’s people to get united to wage a strong movement to force the government to hold the next election under a non-party caretaker government.
“The rule of law will be established and Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and those have been put in jails illegally will get justice only if the election is held under a non-party caretaker government,” Fakhrul claimed.
Chaired by Dhaka city unit BNP convener Sadeque Hossain Khoka, the rally was addressed by, among others, BNP standing committee members Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Rafiqul Islam Miah and Mirza Abbas.
Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s wife Farhat Quader Chowdhury also spoke at the rally.
She thanked and expressed gratitude to BNP and its chief Khaleda Zia for giving the party’s reaction to the verdict against her husband.
With tears rolling down her cheek, Farhat Quader mentioned that the BNP’s reaction as the actual verdict and said, “We didn’t get verdict from the tribunal. We yesterday (Wednesday) get the real verdict through BNP’s reaction which Alamgir Bhai read out. We won’t have any sorrow after that even if he (SQC) is hanged.”
-With The Independent input
