Supreme Court to judge Kamaruzzaman’s appeal Monday

The Supreme Court will judge on Monday Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mohammad Kamaruzzaman’s appeal to overturn his death sentence for war crimes in 1971.

The Appellate Division scheduled his verdict, more than a month after the four-strong bench headed by Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha held the final hearing on his appeal on Sept 17.

“Tomorrow is the day of the verdict. The decision has been taken. We’re waiting for the cause list,” the Supreme Court’s Acting Registrar Kuddus Zaman told bdnews24.com.

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-2 led by Justice Obaidul Hassan on May 9 last year condemned Jamaat’s Assistant Secretary General Kamaruzzaman to death after he was found guilty of five of the seven charges against him.

He moved the Appellate Division on Jun 6 last year against the special court verdict.

A four-member Appellate Division bench, led by senior Justice Sinha, kept the case pending for verdict on Sept 17 after hearing arguments of the defence and prosecution.

On the same day, the Supreme Court delivered verdict on the appeal of another Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee revising the ICT-awarded death sentence to life-in-prison.

However, the Appellate Division upheld the capital punishment for another Jamaat stalwart Abdul Quader Molla and he has already been hanged.

After hearing on Kamaruzzaman’s appeal ended, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam hoped the Supreme Court would uphold the ICT judgment.

Lawyer for the Jamaat leader, however, expressed the hope that he would be acquitted ‘as the prosecution could not prove any charge beyond doubt through evidence’.

The ICT-2 in its judgment said five of the seven charges levelled against Kamaruzzaman had been proven.

It said, according to the charges brought by the prosecution, Kamaruzzaman was the ‘chief organiser’ of the Al-Badr, a militant outfit formed to assist the Pakistan Army to thwart Bangladesh’s freedom struggle in 1971, of greater Mymensingh region.

A former head of Jamaat’s diplomatic relations and liaison team, Kamaruzzaman was sentenced to death on charges of genocide at Sohagpur and murder of Golam Mostafa.

The Jamaat leader was given life in prison for killing Badiuzzaman and the murder of five while 10 years of imprisonment has been handed out for torturing lecturer Syed Abdul Hannan.

The ruling observed that it was only the Jamaat-e-Islami which formed Al-Badr, Al Shams and several other armed organisations to commit crimes against humanity across the country in 1971.

Seven charges brought against Kamaruzzaman

Killing of Badiuzzaman

Led by Kamaruzzaman, the Al-Badr captured Badiuzzaman, son of Fazlul Haque of Kalinagar at Nalitabari in Sherpur, from Ramnagar on Jun 29. Later, he was tortured and shot dead on the road at Ahammadnagar village and his body was dumped in the river.

Torture of Lecturer Abdul Hannan

Kamaruzzaman and his associates captured the then Lecturer of Islamic History at Sherpur College Syed Abdul Hannan in one afternoon of May in 1971. His head was shaved, his body and face were coloured with ink and lime, and then he was made to walk down the street of Sherpur town while being whipped naked.

Genocide at Shohaghpur

On July 25, 1971, planned and advised by Kamaruzzaman, the Pakistan Army, aided by Al-Badr and Razakar, surrounded Shohagpur village at Nalitabari in Sherpur and killed 120 men and raped women of the village.

Murder of Golam Mostafa

The Al-Badr captured Golam Mostafa on Aug 23, 1971 and kept him confined to the force's camp on Kamaruzzaman's orders. Mostafa's uncle Tofael Islam had requested Kamaruzzaman to set free his nephew. But the Al-Badr took Mostafa and another man named Abul Kashem to the Sherry Bridge in the area.

Mostafa was killed, but Kashem survived by jumping into a river after being shot in the hand.

Killing of eight

Members of the Al-Badr captured Liakat Ali and 11 others from Chawkbazar at Sherpur in the middle of the Ramadan during the war. All but three were shot dead in presence of Kamaruzzaman.

Repression of Didar and others

The Al-Badr picked up one Didar and several others and took them to the Mymensingh district bungalow in November 1971. They were tortured until they agreed to speak in favour of Pakistan.

Murder of five

The Al-Badr members had surrounded the house of Tepa Miah on the 27th day of Ramadan and killed his son and four others following the orders of Kamaruzzaman.

Profile

Kamaruzzaman was born at Sajbarkhila village in Sherpur district on July 4, 1952, to Moulavi Insan Ali Sarker, a businessman.

He is convicted of serious crimes involving the War of Independence in 1971.  He was a 19-year-old and set to complete higher secondary education then.

He had established the Al-Badr, a vigilante militia that helped the Pakistani army, in the district mostly by recruiting members from the Ashek Mahmud College in Jamalpur.

The force was involved in genocide, killing, rape, looting, arson, and deportation of people in the greater Mymensingh district including Jamalpur, Netrokona, Kishoreganj, Sherpur and Tangail.

A journalism graduate from Dhaka University, Kamaruzzaman was a two-time President of Islami Chhatra Shibir, according to his official profile posted on the website of the Jamaat-e-Islami, which has introduced him as ‘a renowned politician, writer, orator, intellectual, journalist and Islamic thinker’.

After doing his Master's in Journalism in 1976, Kamaruzzaman joined as Executive Editor of monthly Dhaka Digest in 1980. Later he took the charge of weekly Sonar Bangla as Editor in January 1981. He also worked for Jamaat’s mouthpiece the daily 'Sangram' as its Executive Editor.

Kamaruzzaman became the Organising Secretary of Bangladesh Islamic Students movement in 1972 when his original outfit, Shibir, was banned. He became Secretary General of Chhatra Shibir in 1977, right about the time when he also got married.

He took helm of the organisation as its President the next year. Kamaruzzaman joined Jamaat-e-Islami’s Dhaka City chapter in October 1979 and was sworn in as a full Jamaat member (Rukun) in 1979.

He was appointed Joint Secretary of Dhaka City unit Jamaat-e-Islami for 1981-82 term and served as Publicity Secretary of the party from 1983 to 1991.

He became its Assistant Secretary General in 1992.

He was a member of Jamaat’s political and liaison committees in the movement against former military dictator HM Ershad and in the movement for caretaker government during 1993-95, according to his official profile.

He was also in charge of the party’s diplomatic relations.