Ghulam Azam’s strange Nemesis

Ghulam Azam now faces a predicament similar to the man he idolised and followed.

The man who built up the Jamaat-e-Islami in Bangladesh on the lines of Syed Abul A'la Maududi is now consigned to prison for the rest of his life.

Maududi was convicted and sentenced to death by a court in Pakistan for inciting religious passions but later pardoned.

Azam has not been so lucky.

Scholars say that Maududi’s teachings severely contradict the key tenets of Islam, despite his claims to be a leading Islamic thinker.

That is why many Islamic groups in Bangladesh are stridently opposed to the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Ghulam Azam, a close follower of Maududi, was the chief of East Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami during the 1971 Liberation War.

But human rights worker Sultana Kamal says Azam was as cruel as Hitler.

"In terms of cruelty Ghulam Azam equalled Germany’s former ruler Adolf Hitler, he played a major role in the genocide,” she said.

Ghulam Azam was born in Nov 7, 1922 in his uncle's house at Dhaka's Laxmipur.

His father Ghulam Kabir was a resident of Birgaon village of Brahmanbaria’s Nabinagar Upazila.

He began his education in a madrasa but after clearing Higher Secondary exams, he took admission at Dhaka University and completed his Master’s in Political Science.

Ghulam Azam was inspired by Maududi and joined Jamaat-e-Islami in 1954.

He was arrested in 1955 and during his stay in Rangpur prison he became a ‘Rokon’ of the party. He became the Rajshahi’s divisional secretary of Jamaat in 1955.

A year later, in 1956, Ghulam Azam became East Pakistan Jamaat’s Assistant Secretary and the outfit’s Rajshahi division chief.

He became the Secretary of Jamaat’s East Pakistan branch in 1957 and became its chief in 1969.

In short, he rose very fast in the organisation.

It is said he masterminded the creation of the auxiliary forces, Razakar and Al-Badr, which actively opposed the liberation of Bangladesh.

Ghulam Azam in a statement published by Daily Sangram on Aug 12, 1971 said, “The so-called activists for Bangladesh’s liberation are the enemies of Islam and Pakistan.”

Ghulam Azam’s position against the war is apparent in the comments and statements he issued throughout the bloody war in 1971.

He left the country for Pakistan in November, a few days before Bangladesh was liberated.

The post-liberation government of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman revoked his citizenship.

Ghulam Azam is also known to have organised a vicious campaign against the infant nation during his stay in the Middle East and London.

Professor Anisuzzaman had told the 1992 'People's Court' that Ghulam Azam worked to prevent grant of recognition to Bangladesh by various countries.

After the assassination of founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Ghulam Azam returned to the country with a Pakistani passport in 1978 on the pretext of visiting his sick mother.

After three months Azam’s visa expired but he never left Bangladesh.

‘Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee’ leader Shahriar Kabir says many groups had protested against Azam's decision to stay on but the country's first military ruler Ziaur Rahman did not pay heed to their concerns.

Azam was restricted in his movements, though, and in 1981 he was publicly struck with shoes at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.

After a decade in 1991, Jamaat-e-Islami declared Ghulam Azam as its chief, provoking a furore.

A movement fronted by 'Shahid Janani' Jahanara Imam led to his arrest on Mar 28, 1992.

The People’s Court 'Gana-Adalat' organised by Imam sentenced the Jamaat-e-Islami chief to death.

A prominent 'Gana-Adalat' organiser Shahriar Kabir said, “When Jahanara Imam was reading out the verdict of charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity the people shouted ‘hang him’, ‘hang him’. It reverberated through million voices.”

But Ghulam Azam filed a writ petition at the High Court in 1998 and the court reinstated his citizenship.

The verdict provided him with citizenship but it did mention his allegiance to Pakistan during the 1971 war.

The demand to bring Ghulam Azam to justice has never died down.

Ghulam Azam retired from active politics in 1999, but he retained a strong influence in the party.

The Awami League initiated the process to try war criminals after they came to power in the December 2008 elections.

Ghulam Azam was arrested in Jan 12, 2012. He was kept at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University due to his age and fragile health.