War criminal Ghulam Azam buried

Jamaat-e-Islami supremo Ghulam Azam, convicted to die in prison for war crimes, has been buried at the capital’s Moghbazar.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 25 Oct 2014, 08:54 AM
Updated : 26 Oct 2014, 11:01 AM

The 92-year old died while undergoing treatment at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University on Thursday.

He had been kept in the prison cell of the top notch public hospital ever since his arrest on Jan 11, 2012.

Found guilty of all five categories of crime -- conspiracy, planning, incitement, complicity (abetment) and murder by the International Crimes Tribunal on July 15, 2013, Ghulam Azam had been carrying out his 90-year jail term at the hospital’s prison cell.

He was buried at his family graveyard, a secluded ground within a mosque close to his home at Moghbazar, at 3:45pm Saturday.

Earlier on Friday, residents of the Jamaat guru’s home district Brahmanbaria staged a demonstration against any move to bury him there.

The protesters coming from across a broad social spectrum held a rally and procession at Nabinagar Upazila.

Although, freedom fighters there showed much valour during the Liberation War, the people of Nabinagar still felt ashamed because the man behind horrific war crimes hailed from there, the speakers at the rally said.

Back to Baitul

Azam’s funeral prayer was held at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque. Thirty-three years ago, he was beaten by an angry mob on the footsteps of this very mosque.

He was thrashed with sandals in Jan 1, 1981 while he was getting into his car after attending funeral prayers for two Bangladeshis who died in Palestine - his first public appearance after being allowed to return to the country.
On Saturday, the van carrying his body, kept in an air-conditioned room at his family home, reached the national mosque around 1:15pm. A few leaders of Jamaat’s affiliated groups and allies were seen attending Azam’s funeral apart from party’s leaders and supporters.
The prayer was led by his son Abdullahil Aman Azmi around 1:50pm.
"During his lifetime, my father consciously did not harm anyone. He led a very simple life.
"He was jailed in a false case," said the former military officer who was dismissed in 2009.
Police suspended traffic in several streets around the national mosque in an apparent effort to facilitate the body's arrival, bdnews24.com's Chief Crimes Correspondent Liton Haider reported from the site.
A few handmade bombs were exploded in the area before the body's arrival, but no casualties were reported, he added.