Staff Reporter :
Controversy sparked across the country over the first part of the list of Razakars (Pak collaborators), as it put names of at least seven freedom fighters–one of them was tortured to death by the Pakistan army and four of them have passed away.
Families of the freedom fighters lodged strong protest on Tuesday, demanding clarification from the government on how names of such known and gazetted freedom fighters ended up in that list.
They also demanded exemplary punishment of those involved in making the list.
Freedom fighter and lawyer Tapan Kumar Chakraborty, who found his name on the recently published list of Razakars, on Tuesday said, it would have been better for him to die than seeing his name on the list.
The name of Ghulam Arieff Tipoo, who is the Chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal, which has been trying the war criminals for their crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971, was also found in the list.
“I’m astonished to see that my name appeared on the Razakar list,” said Tipoo, who is also a language movement activist.
Tipoo was conferred with the Ekushey Padak, a highly prestigious civilian award of the state.
“It’s an utter humiliation for me and I hope the Liberation War Affairs Ministry will rectify the list before publishing a gazette notification,” Tipoo said at a press briefing expressing resentment over inclusion of his name.
Apart from Tapan Kumar Chakraborty and Tipoo, freedom fighters Abdus Salam and Mohsin Ali of Rajshahi, Mihir Lal Dutt, and Jitendra Lal Dutta of Barishal, and Majibul Haq (Naya Bhai) of Barguna were on Razakars list unveiled by the Liberation War affairs ministry on Sunday.
Amid countrywide outcry, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque apologised for publishing freedom fighters’ names in the Razakars’ list. However, he defended himself saying, “The home ministry provided the list and we just published it.”
“We released the Razakars’ list as it was received from the home ministry. The home ministry made the list from the then government records documented during the Liberation War, they did not create a new one,” he said.
But contradicting the claim of Mozammel Haque, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said his ministry had sent a note on corrections to the list but the Liberation War Affairs Ministry did not follow it.
“The Liberation War Affairs Ministry didn’t scrutinise the list before publishing it… it should have been scrutinised,” Asaduzzaman Khan said on Tuesday.
Apparently, no one is taking the blame for the “mistake” that saddened the freedom fighters who risked their lives for the independence of the country.
Meanwhile, a Freedom fighter named Tapan Kumar Chakraborty, whose father also fought for the country during the Liberation War, found his name in the Razakars’ list.
“I couldn’t believe it when I heard about it. I found no meaning of staying alive after my name’s included in the list,” Tapan Kumar told media at a press briefing today.
To the utter surprise, the name of Ghulam Arif Tipu, who is the counsel of the International Crimes Tribunal that has been trying the war criminals for their crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971, was also found in the Razakars’ list.
“I hope the Liberation War Affairs Ministry will rectify the list before publishing a gazette notification,” he said at a press briefing expressing resentment over inclusion of his name. The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs Sunday published a list of 10,789 Razakars who collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces during the War of Liberation in 1971. But the list drew huge criticisms as the names of freedom fighters are there in it.
