The first prosecution witness against former Bangladesh Nationalist Party lawmaker and minister Abdul Alim testified that Alim had ordered his followers to kill Hindus and loot their properties in Jaypurhat during the War of Independence in 1971.
The witness, Abdul Momen, now 71, also told the International Crimes Tribunal-2 that Alim, who was
president of the Convention Muslim League’s Jaypurhat unit, formed the Shanti Committee in Jaypurhat and led it.
Alim, the lone accused in war crime cases enjoying bail, was on the dock.
Momen, also the founding president of Bogra Azizul Huq College unit of Chhatra Legue, told the tribunal that the Shanti Committee and Razakars had their office in Jaypurhat at merchant Shaonlal Bazla’s office in the town, and Alim used to recruit Razakars at his house.
He said that the merchant’s office and Alim’s house were located on the two sides of the same road.
Major Afjal, who was in charge in Jaypurhat in 1971, also had an office at the merchant’s office, he told the tribunal, adding that all the offices were established at the merchant’s office at Alim’s instigation.
He said he had seen Alim and Major Afjal come to Hatshahar market under Khetlal in Jaypurhat by a jeep at around 3:00pm, a few days before Eid-ul-Fitr in 1971, and both of them had addressed a public meeting attended by 500 to 600 Peace Committee members.
In the meeting, Alim had translated Afjal’s Urdu speech and later, in his own speech, he had said that he would say the next Eid prayer at Kolkata Gorer Math, and ordered the listeners to loot all the properties of the Hindus, said the witness.
Momen said that he went to Hatshahar’s Hindu locality in the morning seven to eight days after the meeting and heard that the Pakistani occupation army, Razakars and Peace Committee men had cordoned the Hatshashar village and caught many Hindus including Badal, Bhanu, Bishu, Sachin, Probhash Chandra Shil, Moni Bhushon Chakrabarty, Kartik, Nitai and Priyanath.
The arrested Hindus were taken to Khetlal Peace Committee’s office, tortured and then taken to Joypurhat Peace Committee’s office, said Momen.
‘Alim was present in the Peace Committee office. He came out to the road and ordered the men to kill the Hindus,’ he said.
The Pakistani occupation army, Razakars and Peace Committee men eventually took the Hindus to the bank of a river at Khanjanpur Kuthibari, shot them dead and buried them underground, he told the tribunal.
He said that he had followed them all the way from Khetlal to Khanjanpur Kuthibari via Jaypurhat Peace Committee’s office.
As Momen’s deposition ended, Alim’s defence counsel AEM Khalilur Rahman stood up to cross-examine him. Momen told the tribunal that he (Khalilur) was in jail along with Alim just after independence under the Collaborator’s Ordinance.
Khalilur said that he was never in jail as a collaborator and that he was involved with Chhatra League.
The tribunal did not record Momen’s comment and Khalilur’s reply.
During the cross-examination, the counsel asked Momen whether he had come to Khalilur to consult him about a case of his son-in-law.
Prosecutor Rana Dasgupta then asked the tribunal either to expunge the question or to record the witness’s comment.
‘No, my lord,’ the defence counsel opposed the prosecutor’s request.
Tribunal member judge Shahinur Islam asked the defence counsel whether or not both the accused and the witness were his clients.
The defence counsel said that the question was asked as the witness had many cases and it was a part of his questions, and so the question should be kept on record.
The tribunal then asked the defence counsel to carry on his cross-examination.
The cross-examination remained incomplete as the tribunal adjourned the proceedings of the case until August 27.
Prior to deposition of the prosecution witness, the defence counsel submitted a list of 3,328 defence witnesses and documents to the tribunal, and prayed for four more weeks to begin the witness’s deposition as he was not fully prepared.
Prosecutor Rana Dasgupta opposed the defence counsel and argued that the submission was meant to cause unreasonable delay, and so the appeal should be rejected.
The tribunal then asked the prosecutor to produce the prosecution witness for the recording of his statement.
The tribunal on June 11 charged Alim with 17 counts of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the War of Independence in 1971.
Courtesy of New Age
