Bangladesh Celebrated
its 31st Bijoy Dibosh (Victory Day) on Dec 16, 2002
Why to read Ashrafuzzaman
Khan's Infamous Diary
Jamal Hasan
WHO
IS Ashrafuzzaman Khan? Why is it so important that we now know
the content of his dairy? Please be patient and read this write-up.
I will let you draw your own conclusion regarding the culpability
of this man.
It
was the first week of December of 1971. It was also the final
chapter in our nine month long days of fire and blood. Forces
under the joint command of Mukti Bahini and the Indian army had
almost encircled Dacca from all directions. But even as all seemed
lost for the beleaguered Pakistani armed forces, sinister forces
were at work at the Governor's House determined more than ever
to deliver the coup de grâce to the "upstarts"
who had refused to accept the fate of a subject race.
General
Niazi was huddling with his comrade the infamous Major General
Rao Farman Ali, and their chief troubleshooter, Major Siddique
Salek. They had just received the list they had been expecting
from Al-Badr and Al-Shams. Ashrafuzzaman Khan, a commander of
the brutal Al-Badr, had just compiled a list of Bengali intellectuals
for the "benefit" of the high command in the Governor's
House.
It was the list of intellectuals who have been targeted for elimination.
The plan was to kill them immediately so that if Bangladesh becomes
an independent nation, it will have to make do without those that
can contribute significantly to rebuild the infrastructure of
the devastated nation. It would be Pakistan's parting kick to
Bangladesh, so to speak.
Many
of the Bengali intellectuals listed by Ashrafuzzaman Khan were
taken out of their homes in the dead of night in that eventful
week of December in 1971. Needless to say, none of them lived
to see the light of day. Even in the moment of their defeat, Generals
Niazi and Ali must have relished the thought that they have forced
Bangladesh to pay an extremely heavy price for its independence.
It must have given them no little pleasure to imagine that Bangladesh
will fall apart in no time without the services of so many of
its leading intellectuals.
Bangladesh
was liberated on December 16, 1971. Unfortunately, it took longer
than it should have taken for the new administration to attend
to its tasks. By the time the investigators arrived at the residence
of Ashrafuzzaman Khan, he had fled. However, in haste, he had
left behind a crucial piece of evidence. The investigators rummaging
through his leftover items managed to recover that piece of the
puzzle from his house.
They
found Ashrafuzzaman Khan's diary. In it was that infamous list
of intellectuals in his own handwriting. It was indeed a gruesome
find that shocked the people. Ashrafuzzaman Khan was a wanted
man. Photos of the suspect were posted in all Bangladeshi newspapers.
People were urged to apprehend the criminal. But all this was
too late. Ashrafuzzaman had managed to flee not just his residence,
but his country as well by the time the search was on for his
arrest.
Today,
Ashrafuzzaman Khan leads an active life of all places in New York.
He has assumed a role of leadership in the Islamic movement in
the city. Ashrafuzzaman Khan is now the President of the Islamic
Circle of North America. I was reminded anew of his terrible past
as I read in the Washington Post a statement by Ashrafuzzaman
Khan on the tragic Egypt air accident.
Ashrafuzzaman
Khan was quoted as saying, "Sometimes, we face that we are
helpless.... another man lost his parents. Nobody knows anything.
Everybody is sad. But we have to put our faith in God." This
is coming from the man whose infamous list had left so many children
without their fathers in that fateful week in December of 1971.
What an irony it is that this conspirator par excellence of Bangali
intellectual killings in 1971, is now a dyed-in-the-wool humanist,
after all these years! But, is he a humanist? No. He is just a
wolf in sheep's skin. That is what he is!
We,
Bangladeshis, seem to be singularly devoid of self-esteem. Bangladesh
had failed miserably to bring the war criminals to justice after
the surrender of Generals Niazi and Ali on 16th December 1971.
And today, Sheikh Hasina seems to be more interested in pursuing
only those that had killed her kith and kin on 15th August 1975.
No one seems interested to bring the killers of 1971 to justice.
To me, this is the greatest travesty of justice in Bangladesh.
Of
course, Ashrafuzzman Khan hasn't quite been allowed to forget
his criminal past. A few years ago, Shahriar Kabir, a leader of
Ghatok Dalal Nirmul (Efface the killers and conspirators) Committee
exposed the whereabouts of Ashrafuzzaman Khan who, needless to
say, stoutly denies any wrongdoing. But editions of the directory
of collaborators, "Ekatturer Ghatok Dalal Kay Kothai"
(Where are the killers and conspirators of 1971?") continues
to carry Ashrafuzzaman Khan's photo together with a print of the
pages of his infamous diary.
The
Nirmul (Efface) Committee has branches in almost all States of
USA. Most of the members were very active under the leadership
of Shaheed Janani Jahanara Imam. They had even sent a lawyer to
assist the prosecution during the epoch making People's Trial
of Prof. Golam Azam and his cohorts. When will they go after Ashrafuzzaman
Khan? In America, it shouldn't be too difficult to force a war
criminal to answer in a court of law. The million-dollar question
is -- who will bell the cat?
The
writer is a Bangladeshi journalist, based in Washington, DC. Email:
poplu@hotmail.com
