Staff Reporter :Former Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Ghulam Azam was buried at family graveyard at Moghbazar on Saturday afternoon following his Namaz-e-Janaza at Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in the capital. The Janaza was held after Zohr prayers amid protests from different quarters over taking the body to the National Mosque. His son Abdullahil Amaan Azmi conducted the prayers. Earlier, the activists of Bangladesh Samillita Islami Jote, Blogger and Online Activist Network and Chhatra Mukti demonstrated in Purana Paltan crossing and tried to obstruct the hearse from being taken to the National Mosque. The Shahbagh Ganojagoran Mancha also protested over bringing the body to the mosque. However, police foiled their bids. Tight security measures were also taken at Baitul Mukarram and its adjacent areas to avert any untoward incident. Several crude bombs went off near the north gate of the National Mosque in the morning.The organisations demanded that the authorities should not allow Ghulam Azam to be buried in Bangladesh. They said that Azam’s body should be sent to Pakistan for his pro-Pakistan role during the Liberation War. His five other sons, who are now living in the UK and Saudi Arabia, could not take part in the Janaza, as they could not return home. Abdullahil Amaan Azmi said that his expatriate brothers could not participate because they were denied visas. A huge number of leaders and activists of Jamaat, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir and other associate bodies thronged Baitul Mukarram National Mosque hours before the Zohr prayers and took part in the Janaza. Senior Jamaat leaders joined the Janaza. An insignificant number of BNP leaders, including Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, Shawkat Mahmood and Ulama Dal chief Abdul Malek joined it, though the party remains silent over the death. Besides, some leaders of the BNP-led 20-party alliance — Islami Oikya Jote Chairman Abdul Latif Nezami, Muslim League leader Nurul Huda, Labour Party Chairman Mustafizur Rahman Iran and BJP’s Salauddin Matin Prakash also joined the Janaza.Earlier in the noon, the Jamaat activists brought out a mourning procession with Ghulam Azam’s body from his Moghbazar house. BNP standing committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy participated in the procession. Some Jamaat leaders and Abdullahil Amaan Azmi briefly addressed the crowd before the Janaza. Azmi said that his father had devoted his life for the Islam and he will be properly evaluated if Islam turns victorious in this country. “I am certain that my father did not hurt anyone knowingly though out his life. Nevertheless, if anyone feels offended due to any of his acts, I humbly offer apology to them,” he told the crowd.Ghulam Azam, who received 90-years imprisonment for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971, was buried beside the grave of his father Maulana Ghulam Kabir at Kazi Office Lane of Moghbazar in the city. The 92-year old Ghulam Azam died on Thursday night at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU). He was kept in a prison cell of BSMMU since January 11, 2012, the day he was arrested. On July 15, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 awarded him 90 years’ imprisonment.The body of Ghulam Azam was handed over to his family members on Friday morning after the autopsy at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. His body was taken to his Moghbazar house and kept in the frozen hearse until the Janaza. Many Jamaat men went there to see the body and paid their last respects.
