This Nation Is Being Prevented from Standing Tall Once Again

Opinion

Martyr’s Intellectual Day – a pitch-dark day in Bangladesh’s history, a day when our nation fell behind! Why are the very forces that opposed our independence now the most powerful?

Request: I have written this with immense effort. I hope you will read it fully. It is crucial for everyone, especially the younger generation, to know this history.

On this day, 53 years ago, December 14, 1971, the two militias of collaborators, Al-Badr and Al-Shams—led by members of the then-student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, “Islami Chhatra Sangha” (now Islami Chhatra Shibir)—committed a heinous genocide. Realizing that Bangladesh’s victory was imminent, they systematically listed and abducted intellectuals (writers, teachers, doctors, lawyers, journalists) from their homes, tortured them, and killed them. Many of their bodies were dumped at killing fields in Rayerbazar and Mirpur.

Professor Anisuzzaman once said,
“The Al-Badr and Al-Shams militias carried out this heinous act as part of a premeditated plan to ensure that the newly independent Bangladesh could never stand tall.”

Those who never wanted this country, who couldn’t tolerate its independence, orchestrated the murders of our brightest minds to cripple the nation for generations. And today, those same forces control the nation’s power. The Yunus government is merely a puppet, reflecting their desires. Bangladesh has never seen a more horrific time in the past 53 years.

The following information is taken from a 1995 investigative documentary aired on Channel 4 in England, titled “The War Crime Files”, by British journalist and human rights activist David Bergman. The documentary presented evidence, including eyewitness accounts, of the war crimes committed in 1971 by three individuals—Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, Lutfor Rahman, and Abu Sayeed—who later fled to England.

Lutfor Rahman, Jamaat’s second-in-command in Sylhet, issued a fatwa during the war declaring anyone opposing Pakistan’s unity or not aiding its army to be *kafirs* and *murtads*. This fatwa triggered widespread massacres. Under his supervision, the Pakistani Army captured and killed freedom fighters and Hindu men, while women were detained and subjected to systematic sexual violence. After Bangladesh’s independence, Lutfor Rahman fled to England and was working as an imam at a Birmingham mosque during the documentary’s production.

Abu Sayeed, a Sylhet student leader, was Lutfor Rahman’s close associate. He was a notorious commander of the Al-Badr militia in Sylhet. The headquarters and training center for Al-Badr was located at the Mohammadpur Physical Training College in Dhaka. There, Al-Badr members trained intensively for a few days before returning to their local regions. They detained freedom fighters and Hindus, tortured them, and dumped their bodies in mass graves, including Rayerbazar and Mirpur. Abu Sayeed later fled to London, where he taught at an Islamic school in Whitechapel.

The Pakistani military, along with Al-Badr, ran camps inside tea estates where countless women, primarily Hindus, were raped repeatedly. Their goal was to ensure these women bore Muslim children, following the orders of General Tikka Khan. Many of these war babies were later adopted in Europe or America through shelters. Abu Sayeed was also directly involved in identifying, abducting, and killing intellectuals in Dhaka on Al-Badr’s behalf.

Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, one of the prominent Al-Badr leaders, was the imam of East London’s largest mosque during the documentary’s production. Originally from Feni, he was a journalist at the Purbodesh newspaper and a top commander of Al-Badr in Dhaka. Mueen-Uddin was instrumental in publicizing the formation of the Al-Badr militia across Pakistan through his newspaper. As a commander, he collected detailed information on intellectuals supporting Bangladesh’s independence. He was often seen at the Mohammadpur training center during the war, where witnesses reported him personally participating in killings.

As Pakistan’s defeat became imminent, Mueen-Uddin and others began abducting intellectuals from their homes and taking them to Al-Badr and army camps, where they were executed. His involvement in the intellectual killings just before Bangladesh’s victory is well-documented.

Mueen-Uddin was also accused of murdering journalist Gholam Mostafa after an argument at the *Purbodesh* newsroom over Jamaat’s role in the war. Mostafa’s brother, Dulal Rahman, sought help from Mueen-Uddin after Mostafa was abducted. Mueen-Uddin took Dulal to the Al-Badr headquarters at the Physical Training College, but Mostafa was never found.

Al-Badr also targeted other journalists like Enayetullah Khan and Ataus Samad, who narrowly escaped. However, others, like Nazmul Haque and Sirajuddin Hossain, were abducted. Mueen-Uddin was later identified as the mastermind behind these abductions.

On December 14, Professor Mufazzal Haider Chowdhury was taken from his home. As he was being abducted, he recognized one of the men and pulled off his scarf, exclaiming, You’re my student, Mueen-Uddin! His wife, Dolly Chowdhury, also identified Mueen-Uddin as the leader of the group.

This systematic extermination of intellectuals was part of a plan to cripple Bangladesh’s ability to rise after independence. Had these intellectuals survived, they could have played a critical role in rebuilding the nation. Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir were fully aware of the damage they inflicted on our nation by eliminating its brightest minds.

This is why we see:
– Young men boldly chanting, Ami ke, tumi ke? Razakar! Razakar!
– Certain movements glorified to overshadow the 1971 Liberation War.
– Cultural institutions prioritizing December festivities like qawwali and stand-up comedy over commemorating victory.
– A puppet government being manipulated by Jamaat-e-Islami to distort history.
– Systematic destruction of the memory of the Liberation War and Bangabandhu.
– Government jobs lost for simply chanting Joy Bangla.

The collaborators who crippled our nation dream of seizing power. Is there a more unfortunate nation than ours?

Respect to all martyrs and freedom fighters of the 1971 Liberation War.

— Dr. Hasan Mahmud Tipu
Assistant Professor, Carleton University, Canada