Shahiduzzaman

Thirty-four years on, since those dark days in December, when the Pakistani occupation forces and their local henchmen carried out selective killings of the finest Bengali brains, the families of the martyred intellectuals live with the ideal their father, mother, brother or sister sacrificed their lives for: a secular, democratic Bangladesh with egalitarian economic development.
   They believe that ideal remains a distant reality because the war criminals have not been tried and punished, and those who were charged with running the country since independence did not live up to the spirit of the war of independence. The sustained failure to bring the war criminals to justice has left an adverse political and cultural impact on the country.
   Shahin Reza Noor and Zahid Reza Noor, sons of the late journalist Sirajuddin Hossain, Asif Munier Tanmay, son of the late professor Munier Chowdhury, Mohammad Abdullah Shibly, son of the late professor Abul Hashem Mian, Mizanur Rahman Talukder, son of the late Kurigram college teacher Abdul Wahab Talukder, Lutfey Ali Dilir, son of the late Magura college teacher Lutfunnahar Helen, Natakishore Aditya, son of the late cultural activist Pari Mohan Aditya, and Ali Murtaza, son of the late businessman Giasuddin Ahmed were interviewed in the past few days.
   They were unequivocal in their views that the killers of 1971 were behind the emergence of militancy that already has the nation in its grips, in different names and forms.
   They are convinced that had the killers been brought to justice and the spirit and ideals of the war of independence been upheld Bangladesh would not have faced the ongoing fundamentalist militancy.
   ‘We feel helpless when we see the killers of 1971 continue to kill people who believe in the ideals and spirit of the war of independence,’ said Shahin, now an assistant editor of the Bangla daily Ittefaq and president of Projanma Ekattor (Generation ’71), an organisation of sons and daughters of the martyrs of the war.
   His brother Zahid, now an assistant editor of the Bangla daily Prothom Alo, echoed his sentiment. ‘The killing of our father left us in deep sea but the pain becomes unbearable when we see the killers hold high offices o power. Such a reversal has possibly not happened anywhere in the world.’
   Murtaza, now a businessman and general secretary of Projanma Ekattor, said the nation was paying the price for the failure to prosecute and punish the killers of 1971. ‘The latest blast in Netrakona is a continuation of the process.’
   ‘We would have had the satisfaction that the supreme sacrifice by our fathers and mothers did not go in vain if the ideal they died for had been upheld,’ said Mizan. ‘What we see now is that the same killers are playing their evil game to destroy the nation.’
   The families of the martyred intellectuals are convinced that the evil trend can be done away with once and for all, if the war criminals are tried and punished.
   They demanded an immediate institution of special tribunal under the International Crimes (Special Tribunals) Act 1973 and said at least the top-notch killers of 1971 should be tried to show others that the crimes of the anti-liberation collaborators against the nation and humanity would not go unpunished.
   The martyrs deserve recognition of their sacrifices and the recognition will come through the prosecution of the killers of 1971, said Natakishore Aditya.
   The prosecution of and punishment for the war criminals should be followed by the establishment of the sprit and ideal of the war of independence, said Tanmay. ‘When the spirit and ideal of the war will be established, the souls of the martyrs will rest in peace.’
   Natakishore expressed his frustration with the lack of proper maintenance of Mirpur and Rayer Bazar monuments for martyred intellectuals. ‘We do not even take proper care of the monuments erected in their honour.’
   They also expressed their concern over the failure to compile the history of the war.
   ‘The new generation does not know the history; rather, they have been misled in various ways and forms and are being asked to erase the memories of 1971 on the plea of a so-called national consensus,’ said Zahid.
   ‘A consensus may be reached with human beings, but how can we reach a consensus with the killers of 1971,’ he said. ‘They have not even sought apology for their misdeeds.’ ‘The nation has to appreciate how we feel,’ said Zahid. ‘When the entire nation feels our pain and the next generation is imbued with patriotism and spirit of the war, we will know that the sacrifice of our father has not been futile.’
   Raham Ali was the caretaker of the physical training institute at Mohammadpur, which was used as a training centre and a prison camp by Al-Badr in 1971. He witnessed the torture and killing.
   ‘I cannot narrate to you how they tortured and killed people during the last few days of the war,’ he told New Age on December 14, 2005 as tears swelled in his eyes. ‘I do not know whether I will live to see the trial and punishment of the killers.’