Piash's father led Comilla's anti-liberation forces in 1971, says a freedom fighter

A freedom fighter who fought in Comilla has rubbished Law Minister Anisul Huq's claim that Piash Karim had supported the war and the late TV commentator's father was forced to join the Peace Committee.

Piash's father Advocate MA Karim was the leader of those who were against Bangladesh's independence, said Bahauddin Reza, who was awarded Bir Protik in recognition of his bravery during the 1971 War of Independence from Pakistan.

"We nearly died while fighting the battle in 1971, but the law minister did not. Then how can he certify that MA Karim was not a Razakar?" he told bdnews24.com on Monday.

ফাইল ছবি

BRAC University teacher Piash Karim, who had drawn flak for his remarks against the Ganajagaran Mancha and the International Crimes Tribunal, died on Oct 13.

The law minister on Sunday said Piash had been interned in 1971 by the Pakistani army for circulating pamphlets in support of the war and that his father 'had to join' the Peace Committee to facilitate the release of his son.

The minister's remarks touched off another round of criticism on social networking site Facebook of Piash, better known for his controversial remarks on TV talk shows.

Freedom fighter Reza in a video clip posted on a Facebook page said, "We had carried out a grenade attack on MA Karim's house for his role as a Razakar."

Afterwards, bdnews24.com contacted him for more comments on this issue and his side of the story.

Reza, who was a 10th grader at the time of the war, is one of the two freedom fighters from Comilla who were awarded Bir Protik for their gallantry.

He fought in Sector No. 2, which comprised Dhaka, Comilla, Faridpur and part of Noakhali, in 1971 first under Major Khaled Mosharraf and later under Maj ATM Haider. The sector's main coordination centre was at Melaghor in India's Tripura state at the time.

Reza said, "Piash Karim was not an infant in 1971. He was only two or three years younger than me. Many like him had fought in the war. But Piash Karim didn't join the war and instead he followed in his father's footsteps."

"And his father (MA Karim) let Pakistani troopers use his house as a den while he led the anti-liberation forces in Comilla."

The freedom fighter said, "Like the Pakistanis, we had spies too in 1971. We, those who were platoon commanders, were given the responsibility to bomb 10 places in the town."

"Two of those places were two houses that were being used by Pakistani troops. One of them belonged to Advocate MA Karim near the court intersection and the other to Advocate Akbar, father of singer Asif Akbar."

Reza said apart from these two, they had also carried out grenade attacks on the then local offices of Sonali Bank, Commerce Bank, Janata Bank, the offices of the Superintendent of Police and the district’s deputy commissioner.

“After Piash Karim died, I heard some so-called educated people at some TV talk shows say that Piash Karim was a great man and his father was not a Razakar and I wanted to smash my television!"

"It was us who fought in 1971. At one time, I even cheated death only by 2 minutes."

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