Nasim snubs Azam's 'last wish'

There is no 'logic' behind Jamaat-e-Islami leader Motiur Rahman Nizami or Delwar Hossain Sayedee seeking a parole to lead war crimes convict Ghulam Azam's funeral prayers, the health minister has said.

At a media call on Friday, Mohammed Nasim said it was up to the court and the home ministry to decide.

Top war criminal Azam, who led the Jamaat during the Liberation War, died at the BSMMU on Thursday.

His family claimed he had wished that either convicted war criminal Sayedee or under trial Nizami led his janaza prayers.

But Nasim, responding to a question, said many convicts had died in jail before and only close relatives were released on parole to attend their funerals.

"They (Sayedee and Nizami) are nothing like that," he said, adding: "Their demand is illogical. The court and home ministry will see to it."

Azam, who spearheaded the anti-liberation forces, was sentenced to 90 years in jail for war crimes last year.

He never apologised or regretted for standing against Bangladesh's independence.

Shahriar Kabir, who has long been leading a campaign for trial of war criminals, said Azam ‘did politics’ by allegedly expressing his wish to have his funeral prayers led by other war crimes convicts.

He said he was surprised by Azam's lawyer saying he had wished convicted war criminals and under trial people to hold his funeral prayers.