The term “martyrs”, used for the convicted and accused 1971 war criminals, by Humman Quader Chowdhury, son of Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury, who was executed for war crimes, has exposed the real face of the BNP, said anti-war crimes campaigners.
Also, the party’s central committee member, Hammam on October 12 in Chattogram said when the AL government falls from power, they won't be able to return home until they seek forgiveness from the families of 'martyrs'.
He also gave slogans of Jamaat-e-Islam during his speech.
Reacting to that, the pro-liberation war activists recently in a webinar compared Hummam's threat to force Awami League to "seek apology from the families of the executed war criminals as a brazen attempt to justify the 1971 genocide.”
They also said Hummam's recent speech made it clear to the countrymen that BNP was making an eyewash of distancing itself from Jamaat.
Mentionable, most of the executed war criminals are from the pro-Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami, which was later named Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in 2008.
Addressing the webinar, Barrister Shah Ali Farhad, former special assistant to the prime minister, said that Hummam’s remarks depicted his party’s “double standards” in terms of its ties with its long-term ally Jamaat.
He also pointed out how BNP gave central party positions to the scions of executed war criminals in 2016 and nominated them for elections in 2018.
Organiser by G Live, an episode in its signature show “My Opinion”, the webinar was also joined by a prominent online activist Omi Rahman Pial, and IT specialist Sufi Faruq Ibne Abubakar, who also leads the Gurukul Online Learning Network.
Farhad noted that there is no option of taking Hummam's threats lightly, as their family has a long history of violence against political opponents. He also sought greater protection for the complainants, witnesses and officials of the war crimes trial process. He gave examples of how these groups came under attack and constant intimidation since the trials started in 2010.
Prominent online activist Omi Rahman pointed to how Hummam was introduced at the party's Chattogram rally as "the son of a martyr". He also highlighted how BNP kept Salauddin Quader Chy in the party's highest policymaking forum, the standing committee, till his execution.
Echoing similar views, Sufi Faruq remarked, 'BNP is just a political plank that broadly seeks to give legitimacy to Jamaat given the latter's proven record of promoting Taliban-like Islamist radicalism'. Faruq added that the lack of Jamaat's legitimacy on the global stage prompted BNP to offer a plank of legitimacy for Jamaat. Historically, the ties between the parties have been powerful and it seems ahead of the election this bond is growing strength by strength, he added.
The Election Commission has deregistered the party because its political ideologies and policies contradicted the constitutional founding values of Bangladesh.
BNP's founder General Ziaur Rahman and his successor General HM Ershad blew away Bangladesh's1972 secular constitutional edifice and installed "Islam" as the state religion. Both helped legitimise the pro-Pakistan Jamaat gain legitimacy. That continued under Begum Zia and Tarique Rahman, when the war criminals from the party made it into the cabinet.
Netizens were also seen posting "Boycott BNP, Boycott Jamaat," and "Like Father like Son" after Hummam's controversial speech at Chattogram.
Meanwhile, 26 eminent citizens of the country have condemned Hummam’s speech. Also, the Gourab '71' platform organized a protest rally against the 'arrogant speech' of Hummam.
