Justice Now

Tazreena Sajjad

Published by the Forum on 2 November 2009.

This piece outlines the lessons Bangladesh can draw from Cambodia in bringing war criminals to trail.

1973 War Crimes Act: Getting it right

Naeem Mohaiemen and Jyoti Rahman

Published in the Daily Star on 10 July 2009.

THE Law Minister Shafiq Ahmed presented the International Crimes (Tribunals) (Amendment) Act 2009 in parliament this week, with the Speaker urging quick passage before the end of the current parliamentary session. The 2009 act presents some amendments to the original 1973 act to make it “contemporary” (jugupojogi), “fair and neutral,” and “globally acceptable.”

Newspaper reports suggest amendments have been made to: provision to try individuals and groups of individuals; provision for appeal; and English being the official language of the trial along with Bangla.

While we applaud the steps to amend the act, we are, nonetheless, concerned that the amendments were not rigorous enough. In a rush to pass the amendments, insufficient attention has been given to major developments in last three decades in international law, especially as per International Criminal Court (ICC), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), and International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY).

On war crimes

Once we were heroes

Tazreena Sajjad

Published in the Daily Star on 6 Jan 2009.

IT is upto you, my Bengali and adivasi brothers and sisters, to save our country. It is your turn now.” These were the words of adivasi Bir Bikram U.K. Ching speaking at a function in his honour. It was organised by Shuddhoi Muktijoddho, a private initiative created by Lt Col (Retd) Sajjad Ali Zahir, Bir Pratik, to honour the contributions of the adivasi community in the liberation of Bangladesh.

U.K. Ching’s journey from near obscurity to recognition is one that should give the nation pause. There is little information about his contributions in the war and hardly any documentation about this gallant hero in official records.

On syndicates

Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro and Bangladesh’s Declaration of Independence

Mashuqur Rahman and Mahbubur Rahman Jalal

Published in the Forum (Mar 2008)

Soon after the Pakistan army took over Dacca Betar Kendro in the early hours of March 26, 1971. The Pakistanis renamed the radio station “Radio Pakistan Dacca” and used it to announce martial law orders. The Pakistan army’s attempt at silencing the voice of the Bengalis had begun. Bengalis, however, fought back. The war of Bangladesh’s Liberation had begun.

On the evening of that same day a small radio station started broadcasting defiantly in the face of the Pakistan military’s bloody onslaught on the Bengalis. The clandestine radio station, located in Kalurghat, north of the city of Chittagong, declared to the world: “The Sheikh has declared the 75 million people of East Pakistan as citizens of the sovereign independent Bangla Desh.” The station called itself Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendro.

The problem with evil: Addressing 1971

Tazreena Sajjad

Published in the Forum (Feb 2008)

“The problem is why we can or should no longer speak of evil, and why who so seem to be increasingly suspect, self-serving and irrational; why to speak of evil is in a peculiar way to perpetuate it, but at the same time, to refuse to be contaminated by the word is to perpetuate what it denotes … the repertoire of evil has never been richer, yet never have our responses been so weak.”
– Andrew Delbanco

Artwork by Kamrul Hasan

At a talk in Washington D.C. in January, I heard the following: “[T]here is talk in Bangladesh right now of trying the war criminals, you know, those who sided with Pakistan, having these tribunals, but I personally think it’s not the time for Bangladesh to come up with policies that divide the people.