War crimes charges against pro-Pakistan militia commander Nizami who headed Bangladesh Jamaat

The charges against Jamaat-e-Islami chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, for which he has been hanged, include masterminding the slaughter of intellectuals with the help of his vigilante pro-Pakistan militia Al- Badr.

Many of the victims had been kidnapped and murdered a few days before Bangladesh’s victory in the Liberation War on Dec 16, 1971.

The Appellate Division has upheld the tribunal’s death sentences for charges 2, 6 and 16, which also found him guilty of aiding and abetting the Pakistani forces in the killing of over 500 people and the raping of 30 to 40 women in Pabna.

Out of the 16 charges levelled by the prosecution, the war crimes tribunal found Nizami guilty on eight counts and sentenced him to death on Oct 29, 2014.

On Jan 6 this year, the Supreme Court acquitted him of charges 1, 3 and, 4, while upholding the tribunal’s sentences on charges 2, 6, 7, 8 and 16.

He was given the death penalty for charges 2, 6 and 16.

In charges 1, 3, 7 and 8, the war crimes tribunal found the Jamaat chief guilty of abduction, torture, murder, and conspiring and executing crime against humanity.

It handed life imprisonment for these charges that included the ordering of the murder of several youths including Shafi Imam Rumi, son of ‘Shaheed Janani’ (Mother of the Martyrs) Jahanara Imam.

He lost the final legal battle, as the Supreme Court dismissed his plea to review the appeals verdict on May 5.

He has not sought president’s mercy.

Upheld hanging charges

Charge 2

On May 10, 1971 Nizami invited residents of Baushbarhi village of Pabna's Santhia Upazila to a gathering at Ruposhi High School to announce that Pakistan Army was due to ensure peace. The troops arrived on May 14 and killed 450 people of Baushbarhi and Demra villages at Santhia.

They also raped 30 to 40 women with help from Nizami and his associates, while forcing many others to leave the country.

Charge 6

On Nov 27, 1971, the Pakistan Army raided the house of Abdul Awal and other nearby houses at Dhulaurha village of Pabna.

Thirty people were held during the raid and brought to a local school before they were shot dead. The prosecution stated that the operation had been conducted under Nizami’s guidance.

After the army left, Razakars led by Nizami rounded up another 22 people and killed them by the bank of Ichhamoti River.

Charge 16

The last charge was about Nizami orchestrating and executing the killing of intellectuals on Dec 14, 1971 as the head of 'Al Badr' militia force.

Upheld life-term charges

Charge 7

On Dec 3, 1971, upon information from Nizami, the army arrested one Sohrab Ali from his home at Brishalikha village in Pabna.

He was tortured to glean information about his son Md Adbul Latif Selim, a freedom fighter. Ali was later shot dead in the presence of his family.

Charge 8

Nizami and Jamaat secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid, then the secretary of the ICS, visited the MP Hostel in the capital on Aug 30, 1971.

Nizami ordered the murder of several youths including Shafi Imam Rumi, son of ‘Shaheed Janani’ (Mother of the Martyrs) Jahanara Imam.

Acquitted by SC

Charge 1

Nizami had been held responsible for killing Pabna Zilla School teacher Kasim Uddin, who was perceived to be a supporter of the campaign to free the country from Pakistani occupation, in June 1971.

He guided the Pakistan Army personnel, who arrested Uddin from his house before torturing and shooting him and two others dead in his presence.

Charge 3

The prosecution stated that Nizami regularly visited a physical training centre at Dhaka's Mohammadpur, where auxiliary forces helping the Pakistan Army were trained to unleash a reign of terror during the war. Intellectuals were taken there blindfolded and killed, and women were raped.

The charge said "as a chief of the Al Badr Bahini", Nizami visited the place to hatch conspiracies with Pakistan Army officers to commit war crimes and his complicity with the crimes committed there had been found.

Charge 4

In April 1971, a group of Razakars, or Pakistan collaborators, upon orders from Nizami, killed Habibur Rahman Sarder at a bus stop in Karamja village of Pabna allegedly for helping the freedom fighters.

With Nizami’s guidance and plan, Pakistani troops surrounded the house of a Hindu man, Megha Thakur, at Karamja village on May 8, 1971, killing several men and raping three women. Razakars accompanying the army looted the house after the murders.

Acquitted by tribunal

Charge 5

Twenty-one unarmed civilians were killed when the army attacked the Arparha and Bhuter Barhi villages on Apr 16, 1971, aided by Nizami and his associates. Houses in the village were looted and set on fire.

Charge 9

It describes the shooting of 70 people and the torching of 72 houses at Brishalika village of Berha Upazila in Pabna on Dec 12, 1971 by Pakistan troops tipped off by Nizami.

Charge 10

Local Razakars destroyed the house of Anil Chandra Kundu at Sonatola in Sathia in Aug 1971, as the man was said to have joined the Liberation War.

Charge 11

This one puts Nizami on the scene of a meeting organised by the ICS unit of Chittagong in Aug, 1971 where he incited the Muslims. "Pakistan is the house of Allah...there is no power on earth that can destroy Pakistan," Nizami said in his address.

The prosecution said that, through his speech, Nizami intended to exploit people’s religious sentiments and incite them to "commit crime against Banglaees, who were struggling to oust Pakistani occupation and auxiliary forces from Bangladesh."

Charge 12

The next charge was his incitement of Muslims, in meeting held at the Islamic Academy Hall in Dhaka on Aug 22, 1971, to go after freedom fighters. Addressing the meeting, Nizami had urged people to take up arms against the enemies of Pakistan.

Charge 13

This one also accused Nizami of inciting Muslims by addressing a meeting in Dhaka on Sept 8, 1971 marking the Defence Day of Pakistan.

Charge 14

Nizami misinterpreted two verses of Surah Tauba of the Quran to incite a gathering of Razakars at a meeting at the Jessore district headquarters on Sept 10, 1971.

"By quoting the Holy Quran and invoking religious sensitivities, you (Nizami) incited Razakar members to take revenge and eliminate those fighting to free Bangladesh," it states.

Charge 15

This described Nizami as conspirator as he regularly visited the Sathia Razakar camp in Pabna during the war.