Safe in his lair in London because the British won’t extradite anyone to face death in another country, former al Badr leader Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin is bragging he can’t be hanged.
Published : 24 Nov 2013, 07:35 PM
“Those who tried me may get to hang, but they can’t hang me,” the former al-Badr leader sentenced to death by the Bangladesh war crimes tribunal told bdnews24.com in an exclusive interview with UK Correspondent Syed Nahas Pasha.
This was his first full media interview ever -- in which Mueen-Uddin denied any complicity with the massacre of intellectuals during the last days of the 1971 Liberation War.
He has been awarded death penalty for his role in planning and executing these massacres.
Mueen-Uddin talks about his work, personal life and life in East London in the wide-ranging interview with bdnews24.com.
“The media in 1971 circulated false and made-up stories about my role in the war. Relatives of those murdered intellectuals have been influenced by these reports and have testified against me,” the al-Badr leader said.
“I had resigned from all political offices I held after the military action started on 25 March, 1971,” Mueen-Uddin said.
“Some Islamic scholars and leaders of Islamist groups who have been in the parliament for a long time have been implicated in these cases through dubious means,” Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin alleged in the interview to bdnews24.com.
He insisted he would not appeal against the death penalty awarded to him, because he was “never a part of this trial”.
Full transcript of the bdnews24.com interview:
bdnews24.com: What do you have to say about your death penalty?
Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin: This is a complete farce of a trial. Even before the investigators have filed their report to the prosecution, a judge was discussing on Skype with another so-called expert what punishment should be meted out to me. They had decided on my death penalty much before the investigations were over. What more do you expect from this court!
As a God-fearing devout Muslim, I would say life and death is not decided here but up there (pointing to the sky). If Allah the Almighty does not want, none can hang me. Some of those who have pronounced my death may be hanged but not me.
bdnews24.com: There are allegations about your role as an al-Badr commander, as a leader of the student affiliate of Jamaat-e-Islami in 1971 …
CM: All wrong, I was never with al-Badr. I was a member of the Islami Chhatra Sangha, (then) the student front of the Jamaat-e-Islami. But after the military action started, I resigned in protest from all political offices that I held at that time.
bdnews24.com: Which military action?
CM: The one that started after 25 March, 1971. After that, I resigned from all positions that I had been holding.
bdnews24.com: In that case, why have you not appointed a lawyer to defend you in court as you just said you leave the question of life and death to Allah the Almighty?
CM: How can I do that when the court trying me has not sent a notice to me or my lawyer? I am not hiding here, I lead an open and a transparent life here in London, I am open book. You can testify to that, can’t you? But this court which tried me never tried to put me on notice. So how do I go ahead appointing a lawyer to defend myself!
bdnews24.com: So you are suggesting neither the tribunal nor the government of Bangladesh ever tried to get in touch with you about the trial!
CM: No, not at all.
bdnews24.com: Not even through the high commission?
CM: Oh no, neither did the Bangladesh high commission contact me nor was a notice sent either to my address here in London or back in my country. That is because the court was keen on a one-sided trial all along. So in such circumstances, how do I get to appoint a lawyer to defend myself?
bdnews24.com: So are you suggesting that you did not appoint a lawyer because you were not contacted?
CM: Of course. How do you go about appointing a lawyer if you don’t get a notice from the court?
bdnews24.com: Now let’s take a look at the allegations against you ... Professor Giasuddin Ahmed’s niece Masuda Huq Ratna has testified that you personally went to their house twice, the very house where Masuda used to stay for her studies. The second time you were there, she says she was involved in arguments with you and she knew who you were? How do you react to that?
CM: Let me make it clear, these witnesses and their testimonies have not been presented to me. I have never seen these things before. I only got to know these through the media, through you people. My lawyer is clear ... we will not get into the specifics ... let me say however that I don’t want to hurt the sentiments of those who lost their near and dear ones because I know they have suffered much. I don’t deny that Masuda Huq Ratna may have known who I was, though I cannot really place her. But whatever she is saying …
CM: If they are so sure, why did they not file even a routine complaint with a police station for the last 40 (forty) years. I think they have all been influenced by the false media reports, they started believing them and so now they are testifying. I don’t remember anything about these incidents and I am sure they are all made up.
bdnews24.com: So you don’t remember the arguments you had with Ratna?
CM: I have never been to their house, so there is no question of arguments. Never, neither before nor after the war.
bdnews24.com: Journalist Selina Parvin’s son Sumon Jahid has said in his testimony that your (Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin’s) men blindfolded her and took her away and that their address was given to the al-Badr from the office of the ‘Dainik Purbodesh’ where you worked!
CM: This shows how stories are cooked up in the Bangladesh media. If an atrocity has taken place,the affected persons would file cases seeking redress. But here, the media first reports whatever they say happened and then those who feel they have been affected go to court and file cases. This is ridiculous.
bdnews24.com: Do you remember Ashrafuzzaman Khan?
CM: I knew Ashrafuzzaman Khan.
bdnews24.com: (Martyred intellectual) Professor Serajul Huq Khan’s son Enamul Huq Khan has testified in the tribunal that you and Ashrafuzzaman Khan were responsible for kidnapping his father. He was then a Masters student at the Dhaka University. He has been able to identify you after your picture appeared in newspapers, those whose reports you have contested.
CM: I left the country after all these fabricated stories started appearing, not before that. I have lived in the country and I have been going there ever so often. If there were such clear evidence against me, why did no one take me to court all this while! If I had such evidence against someone,would I have waited all this long? I would have gone to a police station the following day and filed a complaint. So many people who have now testified against me have not bothered to go to court against me all these years. Has someone bothered to ask them this simple question? What were they doing all these years? If there was a proper trial, these allegations would not have stood any rigorous cross-examination. These people have started believing the tales spun by the media.
bdnews24.com: Have you protested against the reports in the media?
CM: The madness that gripped the country made it impossible to challenge any untruth. People have carried false reports following intimidation.
bdnews24.com: Are you suggesting the reports about you resulted from intimidation?
CM: Yes I have information that did happen.
CM: Let me make it clear. There are some journalists I always respect because I learnt journalism from them. Golam Mostafa is one of them. The others I respect are Kamal Lohani, Ehtesham Haider Chowdhury and Salimullah. It is inconceivable that I would harm any of them.
Then it is also true that many like Ehtesham Haider Choudhury, whose brother was a victim, did not believe these stories, the first of which was prepared by Atiqur Rahman. Later armed men forced them to run these stories.
Now Lohani Bhai was interviewed by Bergman who tried to provoke him hard against me. But the unedited tapes with Lohani Bhai’s long interview, which I secured after suing Channel 4, show he was opposed to Jamaat-e-Islami but he praised me for my journalistic talent. Lohani Bhai said clearly I was on the same page with them on the question of Bengali identity. He never believed I was involved in these incidents. So it is out of question that any of these respected journalists would be harmed by me. I still retain the footage of Lohani Bhai’s interview. I have tried my best to help out the affected families, I had taken Dulu in a rickshaw to look out for his brother, but if he says he saw some people snapping to attention at my arrival, well, this is imagination, there is no truth in this.
bdnews24.com: At that time you were working for Purbodesh in 1971 as a journalist!
CM: Yes.
bdnews24.com: You were a student of Mofazzel Haider Chowdhury. He was taken away by armed people whose faces were concealed from his brother Lutful Haider Choudhury’s house in Shantibagh. They pulled down the cover on your face and identified you!
CM: I think this man you are talking about is Iftekhar Haider Chowdhury. Now if he had such solid evidence, why did he not file a police complaint all these years? Was it not possible for him? Mofazzel Haider Chowdhury was a teacher I respected very much. Same was true of his brother Ehtesham Haider who was my news editor. I have never been to their house, so these are all figments of imagination.
bdnews24.com: You have been to Bangladesh many times. Especially when Ziaur Rahman and H M Ershad were in power. Is it true you were not able to offer namaz at the Eidgah during Eid-u-Adha because people in your ancestral village were so upset with you? That you had to be provided police protection, is it true!
CM: Totally false. I have never been to Bangladesh during Zia’s time. I first went to Bangladesh in 1982 with a Bangladesh passport. After that, I have been to the country during successive governments but I have never taken police protection. When I first went, some people tried to organise a procession and send the police after me. But when they saw my Bangladesh passport, they apologised and went away.
And this story about villagers stopping me from offering namaz is absolute nonsense. This Eidgahis wakf (religious endowment) of our family and the front row during the namaz was earmarked for our family. When I joined the Islamist movement, I was the first to oppose this practice. Why should others always be consigned to the back, I argued. It is unbelievable that anyone in the village would stop me from offering namaz. I have twice offered prayers during Eid, once in the Eidgah and once in the masjid in front of our house.
bdnews24.com: You have often said in interviews that supporting the cause of Pakistan was no crime!
CM: Yes, Pakistan was a sovereign state and it was no legal offence to defend it. But I am a pragmatic realist and want to look forward, rather than backward. So I accepted the citizenship of Bangladesh which has never been cancelled. I have got my Bangladesh citizenship because I love Bangladesh and I emotionally identify myself with the progress made by Bangladesh. I still try to contribute to Bangladesh’s progress whichever way I can. My only regret is that I have not been able to serve Bangladesh with my talent which my seniors in journalism had talked about.
I will continue to work for Bangladesh’s progress. Which government is in power is a different issue. The present government in Bangladesh is seen the world over as a kind of a democratic dictatorship, corrupt and unacceptable. This is not what I say, but many inside and outside the country hold this view. Country and government are two different entities, they are not the same.
bdnews24.com: What’s your opinion about the other verdicts by the war crimes tribunals?
CM: It does not concern me directly but from what I have found out, many respected Islamic scholars and Islamist leaders who have been in parliament much of their life have been framed and punished through trials that were nothing but farce. Even Hindu witnesses were dragged away from the court.
Judges, investigating agencies, prosecution and conspirators all got together to frame respected people and pursue political vendetta through judicial means. Judges have discussed for hours together on Skype with outsiders how to frame innocents. Across the world, these trials are seen as a farce, as a travesty of justice that has failed to meet global standards. Ministers in this government were involved in intimidation of witnesses. They have put the blame of the war on Jamaat-e-Islami and projected the Pakistan army as its collaborator ...
I hope one day it will be proved that whatever was said of those punished in these tribunals was not true.
bdnews24.com: Your verdict follows from charges of the massacre of intellectuals, the 14 November massacre, in which close relatives of those killed have testified.
CM: I was never involved in any kind of criminal activism. I only tried to help people in distress. You have seen me here in London where I am involved in social work.
bdnews24.com: Talking of your presence here, let me ask you: when exactly did you come here?
CM: 1973.
bdnews24.com: You were involved with the East London Mosque until the exposé on Channel 4. Is it true you had to disassociate yourself from that mosque after people started talking about your past?
CM: This is not true. The mosque lives in my spirit and I have served it for 30 years. Unlike other community leaders, I am not one who will hang on to office at any cost. I always believe the next generation must be given the opportunity. Not only the East London mosque, I am also associated with many other organisations. You can check it out, and you will find that wherever I have been, I have promoted younger people and encouraged them to take over. We raised the East London mosque with a budget of 2.5 million pounds when I was its secretary. Now the budgets are four to five times more and so much more work is taking place there. This is what happens when you let the younger people take over.
bdnews24.com: Since you are involved with so much here, would you imagine the death penalty by the war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh will affect you here?
CM: This surely puts my family under pressure socially. But as a devout Muslim, I have the strength to face this falsehood. And those who know me and are aware of my social work will continue to support me.
bdnews24.com: What is your present relationship with Jamaat-e-Islami? Do you maintain relations with senior Jamaat leaders in Bangladesh?
CM: I am not involved with the organisation but I am a personal friend of many (Jamaat leaders).
bdnews24.com: Last question, are you not appealing against this verdict? The government can always change and, if it does, what would you do?
CM: I have not been served a notice nor have my lawyers been contacted. So why should I appeal in a trial which is nothing but a farce.