Jamaat politics helped Mir Quasem become a tycoon

Mir Quasem Ali, believed to be the man financing a global propaganda against Bangladesh's war crimes trials, has been hanged for crimes against humanity he committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

The Jamaat-e-Islami leader could not escape the noose for his war crimes after he lost his legal battle when his review petition was turned down by the top court.

The Appellate Division dismissed the review petition last Tuesday, leaving Mir Quasem the option of seeking presidential clemency.

But he refused to seek clemency and the government ordered his execution which was carried out at 10.30pm on Saturday night.

The member of Jamaat's central executive council, Mir Quasem was known as 'Mintu' back in Chittagong where he had grown up.

Infamous for the torture and murder of freedom fighters in Chittagong's Dalim Hotel, described as a 'death factory' by the ICT, Mir Quasem had emerged as the founder of Jamaat's student front Islami Chhatra Shibir in 1977.

The building at Andarkilla was called ‘Mahamaya Bhaban’ before members of the Al-Badr militia grabbed it from a Hindu family during the war.

The militia formed to assist the Pakistan Army then set up their torture camp in the building and renamed it ‘Dalim Hotel’.

Mir Quasem, who headed the Al-Badr in the port city, was condemned to death by the ICT on Nov 2, 2014, for his role in the torture and murders at 'Dalim Hotel'.

The verdict had quoted from the book 'Documentary Evidence: Chittagong in Liberation War'.

It was submitted to the tribunal by the prosecution. Al-Badr members and Pakistani troops would take freedom fighters to Dalim Hotel to torture them unto death, the book said.

“It has been proved that the accused Mir Quasem Ali had been in a key position in the Al Badr force headquartered at Dalim Hotel which was a ‘death-factory’ indeed,” the judges said in the verdict.

The 'terror of Chittagong' had proved to be a shrewd businessman and politician by rapidly rising through the ranks and raising the Jamaat's fortunes.

The 63-year old media tycoon had pumped billions into the Jamaat since the mid-1980s to become the party’s financial backbone.

After founding Shibir in 1977 and becoming a leader of the Jamaat, Mir Quasem had started getting involved in many businesses.

He started with NGOs, but then spread out to banks, financial institutions, exports and imports, real estate, health services, pharmaceuticals and shipping. While doing so, he had even received support from different governments.

After the Awami League government started the war crimes trials in 2010, many attempts were made to make the trials look questionable in the eyes of the world.

The government had alleged that Mir Quasem was the main financier of international propaganda against the trials.

Shafique Ahmed, law minister when the trials started, had said that Mir Quasem gave $25 million to a US lobbyist firm to undermine the war crimes trial and make it look questionable.

The government has copies of the receipt of the transaction and the contract, he said.

Backing his claim, the State then submitted a memo to the Supreme Court during the hearing of the Jamaat leader's appeal against the death penalty.

The Washington firm Cassidy and Associates said in the receipt that it had received $25 million from the Jamaat financier for “professional service”.

The court had said that Mir Quasem was mentioned in court documents as a 'successful businessman' and that's why the amount State mentioned did not seem 'excessive' considering the 15 to 16 companies he owns that were mentioned in the bail petition.

Regarding that, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam had said, "The court said it will have to be proved whether he (Quasem) appointed lobbyists. But the court took cognisance of the receipt and said Mir Quasem was a very influential and resourceful person. He has made several attempts to foil the trial."

British lawyer Toby Cadman, hired by Jamaat, had been actively trying to make the war crimes trials look questionable.

Mir Quasem Ali

He even organised a media conference in London two days before the conviction of Mir Quasem by the ICT.

At the time of his arrest on charges of war crimes in 2012, Mir Quasem's name had been removed from the many positions he held in different organisations.

However, at the time of verdict he was owner of 119,534 shares of the Islami Bank.

Even on the eve of his arrest he was the leading trustee of the Ibn Sina Trust. Several institutions like the Ibn Sina Pharmaceuticals, Ibn Sina Medical College and Hospital etc are run by the Trust.

Mir Quasem was also a founding member of the Islami Bank Foundation, which runs a number of establishments in health and education sectors including hospitals, medical colleges, nursing and technology institutes, schools, colleges, madrasas and even a cultural centre.

He was also a member of the Bangladesh Islamic Centre. As a representative of this organisation, he became the Vice Chairman of the Islami Bank's Board of Directors in 1983.

Later, he also represented Ibn Sina Trust in the same board.

He then made his foray into media business.

Mir Quasem became the founding chairman of the Diganta Media Corporation, which floated Daily Naya Diganta and Diganta TV.

The telecast rights of the channel were, however, withdrawn over the airing of religiously provocative content, regarding Hifazat-e Islam's gathering in Dhaka's Motijheel, in 2013.

According to data from the Office of the Registrar of Joint Stock Companies and Firms, Mir Quasem and his family owned as many as 10 companies under the banner of 'Keari'.

He was the owner of five luxury vessels called 'Keari' that sailed between Cox's Bazar and St Martin Island. He was also the chairman of Eden Shipping Lines.

File Photo

Mir Quasem was once the country director of Middle East-backed NGO Rabita al-Alam al-Islami. The NGO is accused of bringing 'welfare funds' for Rohingya refugees but used that to fund armed activity.

Bangladesh Bank in 2007 found suspicious activities in the organisation's accounts during an investigation launched following an UN request.

Later, the bank accounts of several organisations that received aid from Rabita were frozen.

When he joined the Jamaat from Chhatra Shibir in 1980, Mir Quasem was the co-ordinator of the NGO. Three years later he became the vice chairman of the Islami Bank and began expanding his business.

Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee President Shahriyar Kabir accuses Mir Quasem of using foreign funds to build his financial empire.

He told bdnews24.com that following Bangabandhu's assassination, Ghulam Azam and Mir Quasem spread the propaganda among the Middle Eastern nations that Indian agents were destroying mosques in Bangladesh and killing members of their organisation.

"They collected huge amount of funds from Middle East on the pretext of building mosques, madrasas and rehabilitation of their activists and used it to fund their own business. Mir Quasem was in charge of managing these funds," he said.

Having earned the reputation of a "financially important person" he rose quickly through the Jamaat ranks and became a member of its executive council - the Majlis-e-Shura - in 1985.

Born in Manikganj on Dec 31, 1952, Mir Quasem was the son of a fourth-class telegraph office employee raised in Chittagong.

He passed his matric examination from Chittagong Collegiate School in 1967, when he lived with his family at the C&B Colony at the port city's Rahamatganj.

He passed his intermediate in 1969 from Chittagong Government College.  The next year, he became the president of the college unit of then Jamaat student body Islami Chhatra Sangha.

The rising Bengali nationalism was at its peak at that time.

On the night of Mar 25, 1971, the Pakistan Army swooped down on the unarmed innocent Bengalis to crush their struggle for freedom.

They carried out genocide in the first hours of that night in Dhaka, codenaming the attack the ‘Operation Searchlight’.

Bengalis put up a valiant resistance and snatched victory on Dec 16 after nine months of Liberation War.

Mir Quasem was the Chittagong City Chhatra Sangha President until Nov 6 that year and thus was the chief of Al-Badr militia there.

On Nov 7, he was promoted to provincial executive member of the Pakistan Islami Chhatra Sangha and appointed the East Pakistan Islami Chhatra Sangha general secretary.

Ali Ahsan Ahmed Mujahid was then the Chhatra Sangha president. Mujahid had succeeded Motiur Rahman Nizami to that position.

Jamaat chief Nizami and secretary general Mujahid both have been executed for 1971 war crimes before Mir Quasem.

The ICT verdict had cited that during the war Mir Quasem was directly involved in the crimes against humanity as the central commander of Al-Badr, Razakar and Al-Shams in Chittagong region.

Following Pakistan's surrender on Dec 16, 1971, Mir Quasem went into hiding. The records at the tribunal say that he passed his BA from Dhaka's Ideal College in 1974.

Following the change in political climate in 1975, the Jamaat got the chance to enter politics in independent Bangladesh.

When Chhatra Shibir, a rechristened Chhatra Sangha, started its journey in 1977, he became its first president.

There was no looking back for Mir Quasem anymore.

Perhaps his political success had made him believe he would scrape through the war crimes trials as well.

“…Devils… devils… false events … false witnesses … black law … hatched-up verdict,” he had screamed, as soon as the ICT sentenced him to death on two counts of murder.