Mujahid: The man who led Al-Badr

History appears to have turned full circle. There was a time when Al-Badr had described itself as the Angel of Death for those fighting for Bangladesh's freedom. And, now, a little over four decades later, its former chief is destined to hang from the gallows.

“Al-Badr is a name, a wonder! It is a promise! Wherever there are the so-called freedom fighters, there’s Al-Badr … Wherever there are miscreants, there’s Al-Badr … It is Azrail (Angel of Death) for the agents of India and the miscreants,” the militia outfit said of itself.

War criminal Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujahid had led the notorious force during the 1971 Liberation War.

He will be "hanged by the neck" for unleashing his ruthless Al-Badr militia on unarmed intellectuals to snuff out the dream of an independent Bangladesh four decades ago.

The country's second war crimes tribunal on Wednesday awarded him the death sentence for mass murders the 66-year-old had planned and executed during the 1971 Liberation War.

Presiding ICT-2 judge Justice Obaidul Hassan described him as an “atrocious Al-Badr” commander who conspired, abducted, tortured and murdered.

The court found Mujahid, in his mid-20s in 1971, guilty of five charges that included murder of intellectuals, genocide, abduction, torture, and murder.

Starting his political career with Jamaat-e-Islami’s erstwhile student organisation, the Islami Chhatra Shangha, he not only actively opposed Bangladesh’s independence, but also helped the Pakistan army in every possible way – taking part in crimes against humanity, genocide, murder, torture, loot – to thwart the nation’s struggle for freedom.

The man who had so monstrously opposed the birth of the nation, had sported the national flag on his car in course of time. He served as a minister in the 2001-6 BNP-Jamaat-led Cabinet.

Mujahid worked his way up to the Jamaat's top echelons and became its Secretary General. Although he was a minister and a top Jamaat leader, he failed to earn people's acceptance. He never won a parliamentary election despite several attempts.

Born on Jan 2, 1948 at Khabaspur in Faridpur, Mujahid joined the Chhatra Shangha while still a higher secondary student at the Government Rajendra College in Faridpur. He became the organisation’s district President in 1968.

His father Abdul Ali, a member of East Pakistan Provincial Council, was the Faridpur unit chief of the notorious ‘Shanti Committee’ during the Liberation War.

Mujahid moved to Dhaka after passing his higher secondary examinations and became the Dhaka district Secretary of the student front in 1970. Next, he became the organisation’s ‘East Pakistan’ unit Secretary and soon its provincial President after the war broke out.

According to his lawyer's website, Mujahid did his Masters in Political Sciences from the University of Chittagong.

He became the President of Al-Badr, a force comprising Chhatra Sangha activists, in October in 1971, succeeding Motiur Rahman Nizami, the present Jamaat chief standing trial on a raft of war crimes charges.

Jamaat mouthpiece Dainik Sangram ran a report on Nov 14, 1971 quoting Nizami. “It is our utter good luck that young Islam-loving students have formed the Al-Badr, inspired by the memories of the Badr War,” he had said.

The prosecution had highlighted Mujahid’s role as the Al-Badr chief. He was accused of ordering the abduction of then Executive Editor of Daily Ittefaq, Sirajuddin Hossain, whose body was never found.

The Al-Badr had led the slaughter of Bangladesh’s intellectuals just before the nation achieved independence. It indulged in mass murder, genocide, kidnapping and looting across the country under Mujahid’s leadership, including in his home district Faridpur and the capital Dhaka.

He refused to surrender with his force even after the Pakistan military laid down their arms on Dec 16, 1971.

Prosecutor Tureen Afroz had told the court that Mujahid controlled the Al-Badr. “Members of the Al-Badr had carried out his orders until the last day,” she said.

His lawyers tried hard to disprove the Jamaat leader's involvement with the notorious militia outfit.

Jamaat had claimed the case against him was ‘politically motivated’. The party maintains the cases against war criminals Ghulam Azam, Abdul Quader Molla, Mohammad Kamaruzzman and Delwar Hossain Sayedee too were similarly framed.

Mujahid joined Jamaat after the War and became a member of its central council in 1982, when the party became active again after the assassination of the nation’s founding father, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Before becoming the Secretary General in 2000, he had been the Assistant Secretary General for two years from 1989.

Although he had never won a parliamentary election, he was made the Minister of Social Welfare by Khaleda Zia in 2001.

Today, he also heads the board of directors of party mouthpiece Daily Sangram. In 2010, Mujahid claimed Jamaat’s opposition to independence was a political decision and that its leaders were never part of crimes against humanity.

He was detained on Jun 29, 2010 for fanning religious hatred. Later that year, on Oct 2, he was arrested on war crimes charges. He has been in prison since then.

Mujahid had rejected all allegations against him and his colleagues claiming there were no war criminals in Bangladesh.

Forty-two years after independence, Mujahid has been convicted and ordered to walk the gallows on war crimes charges.