Shahbagh activists revel about verdict

Ganajagaran Mancha and several other organisations have taken out a “procession of joy” at Shahbagh in Dhaka after Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami was awarded death sentence for his war crimes committed in 1971.

The rally taken out from in front of National Museum marched to TSC in Dhaka University and then came back to Shahbagh on Wednesday.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 M sentenced Nizami, who led Pakistan Army’s vigilante militia outfit Al-Badr to stop Bangladesh’s emergence.

Before taking out the march, Ganajagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarkar said: “Today we are very happy as we’ve got the desired verdict.”

He demanded that the verdict be executed as soon as possible.

Sarkar said: “War crimes trial process remained stuck for long. And after a long time, we have got our expected verdict, which has ensured justice. And it has been possible thanks to Bangladeshi people who have sacrificed and camped on the street.”

After the procession, the Mancha faction led by Kamal Pasha held a rally at Shahbagh.

Addressing the rally, Pasha praised the government for constituting the ICT to try those who committed crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

He too demanded prompt execution of the verdict. “We’ve seen verdict existing only on paper. We don’t want to see that again. We want real verdict...We want to see that Nizami has been hanged.”

At around 11am, activists of other faction of the Mancha led by Sarkar gathered near the National Museum. They chanted slogans demanding capital punishment for Nizami.

Activists of Pasha-led faction, camping a bit away from Sarkar-led faction, also shouted slogans demanding Nizami’s death penalty.

Activists of JaSaD Chhatra League and ‘Aparajeyeo Bangla’ took positions between the two Mancha factions.