The people of Rangpur’s Badarganj where Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam was born believe his death sentence has freed them from the ‘stigma’ he inflicted upon them.
Published : 30 Dec 2014, 11:37 PM
They demanded prompt execution of the verdict awarded by the International Crimes Tribunal.
Akbar Ali, a retired teacher, was one of them.
“He (Azhar) deserved this punishment. Badarganj Upazila, including Azbatasan village, has been freed from the stigma,” he told bdnews24.com in reaction to the ICT verdict on Tuesday.
Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members were deployed in Badarganj before the judgment.
The ICT-2, led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim, found Rangpur Al-Badr commander Azhar guilty of genocide during the Liberation War in 1971.
People took out celebratory processions and distributed sweets on hearing his penalty.
Freedom fighter Tamijuddin, who now pulls rickshaw, said they had looked for Azhar after independence but failed to trace him. He was later rehabilitated in politics, he added with a tinge of despair.
“The stigma has been purged a bit today. It will be over when the verdict will be executed,” he said.
After the verdict, teachers of Carmichael College placed wreaths at the graves of four professors and wife of another, who were abducted and killed by Azhar, other Al-Badr members and Pakistani troops.
Carmichael College Teachers Association General Secretary Sujon Shah-e-Fazlul said: “We, the Carmichael College family, are happy with the judgment though it’s late... The souls of the martyred teachers will be in peace if the verdict is executed promptly.”
Rangpur district freedom fighters’ commander Mosaddek Hossain Bablu said Bangladesh had taken another step, through the verdict, towards being purged of the disgrace.