Ghulam Azam's death rendered justice: Joy

Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy believes justice has been eventually served through the death of war criminal Ghulam Azam though his sentence was inadequate.

"It was more than he deserved, but justice has been served. He did not die a free man and political leader, as he was under the BNP-Jamaat regime," he commented on his Facebook page around 8 am, Tuesday.

The then leader of the anti-liberation force, Jammat-e-Islami of Bangladesh, Azam, was convicted by a War Crimes Tribunal, identifying him as a conspirator and a key strategist in crimes against humanity committed during that period.

Although he deserved highest punishment for the crimes he committed, considering his age and physical state he was sentenced to 90 year in prison, the judge said while pronouncing the verdict.

Ghulam Azam died, serving one year and three months of his jail-term, at the age of 92.

Joy wrote, "Ziaur Rahman allowed him to return to and lead politics in the country where he slaughtered innocent civilians on behalf of Pakistan. Bangabandhu’s daughter and party brought him to justice after 40 long years."

The former Jamaat leader returned to the country on a Pakistani passport in 1978, during the regime of military ruler Ziaur Rahman. Later Azam regained Bangladesh nationality during Khaleda Zia's rule.

BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami are long-time political allies. Several war crimes convicts were inducted in the cabinet when the alliance came to power in 2001.

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The prime minister's ICT advisor Joy commented that Ghulam Azam's death and Bangladesh’s achievements in international arena made the past two weeks special.

"Today I am very proud to be a Bengali and also proud of my Government and Nation," the prime minister's son said.

"Today has been the culmination of a tremendous two weeks for our Awami League Government and Bangladesh. In the past two weeks our Honorable Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury was elected as the Chairperson of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association, MP Saber Chowdhury was elected as the President of the Inter-Parliamentary Union, our nation was elected to be a member of the UN Human Rights Council and today we were re-elected to the administrative council of the International Telecommunication Union," he wrote on his Facebook page.

He thinks these successes are a 'tremendous recognition' to the nation's standing and popularity.