RP Saha killer wanted Hindus in Mirzapur annihilated: War crimes tribunal

The killings of philanthropist Ranada Prasad Saha, his son Bhabani Prasad Saha and 58 others were designed to wipe the Hindu community out of Tangail’s Mirzapur in 1971, a war crimes tribunal has observed.

Pias Talukder and Tabarul Huq, বিডিনিউজ টোয়েন্টিফোর ডটকমbdnews24.com
Published : 27 June 2019, 08:45 PM
Updated : 27 June 2019, 08:45 PM

“Attack on RP Saha and his son and others was not only to wipe them out but was intended to [halt] the noble activities of the institutions conducted under his vibrant guidance and also to destroy the Hindu community, either whole or in part,” the International Crimes Tribunal-1 said in a verdict on Thursday.

The tribunal sentenced to death Mahbubur Rahman, the president of Mirzapur Peace Committee, a unit formed to collaborate with the Pakistani forces during the war, for the killings of RP Saha and others.

It described the affiliation of Mahbubur, now 70 years old and behind bars, his father Wadud Moulana, and brother Abdul Mannan, both dead, in locally formed Razakar force to aid the Pakistani occupation, as “notorious”.  

They assisted and substantially contributed to the actual accomplishment of barbaric killing of numerous Hindu civilians, the tribunal said.

“Besides, it has been proved that the accused physically participated in effecting selected Hindu civilians and causing death of some of victims by gun shot,” it added.

Referring to the Razakar force, the ICT said, “What was the objective of forming such para militia force in war time situation? Of course, intention was not to protect lives and properties of civilians. Rather, it is undeniable that the Razakar force had acted in furtherance of policy and plan of Pakistani occupation army and in so doing it had carried out recurrent atrocities committed in a systematic manner throughout the  territory of Bangladesh in 1971.

The tribunal said it is convinced that Mahbubur is responsible for all the acts resulting from the “criminal plan and design of annihilating the Hindu community of village-Mirzapur, Baimhati Kanthalia, Andhara, Sarishadair and adjacent vicinities under Mirzapur police station of District Tangail”.

“On totality of evidence we arrive at unerring conclusion that ‘specific intent’ of the enterprise was to destroy the substantial part of Hindu community of the locality under Mirzapur of District Tangail,” it said.

Mahbubur, a Jamaat-e-Islami adherent, attacked the house of Saha with the help of local Razakars in Narayanganj on May 7, 1971, with 20-25 members of the Pakistani occupation force, according to the ICT’s investigation agency.

British government recognised Ranada with Rai Bahadur title for his philanthropic activities. Bangladesh government honoured him with posthumous Swadhinata Padak, the highest state award, in 1978.

Ranada, a native of Tangail’s Mirzapur, established a number of educational and charitable organisations.

Mahbubur carried out crimes near Bharateswari Homes, Kumudini Welfare Trust in Narayanganj, and Tangail Circuit House during the Liberation War, ICT investigators had said.