Razakars’ list: Freedom fighters’ names will be dropped if they apply
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs published the names 10,789 Razakars, Al Badr, Al Shams and anti-liberation forces on December 15
The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs has decided to remove the names of freedom fighters - whose names are on the list of Rajakars - if they submit an application to the ministry.
The ministry issued a press release in this regard on Tuesday after drawing severe criticism from different quarters over the inclusion of many freedom fighters' names in the Razakars' list published on Sunday.
A day before the 49th Victory Day on December 15, the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs published the names 10,789 Razakars, Al Badr, Al Shams and anti-liberation forces who collaborated with the Pakistani occupation army during the 1971 Liberation War and committed crimes against humanity.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
The press release said that the Liberation War Affairs Ministry did not make the list; they received it from the Home Ministry and published it as is. The ministry will investigate how the names of the Freedom Fighters got included in the list of Razakars.
The Liberation War Affairs ministry also apologised for the error.
Speaking to the media following an event at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in Dhaka on Tuesday, Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said, "The ministry will withdraw the list of Razakars, Al Badr, Al Shams and anti-Liberation forces if we find too many errors.
"The list was created in 1971 and the Pakistani government may have included the names of Freedom Fighters at that time. We released the Razakars' list as it was received from the Home Ministry. We did not make the list. We published it responding to demand of the people."
On Sunday Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said the ministry published only a portion of the list and the rest of the names will be disclosed gradually.
He further said on that day, "We collected the list from the Home Ministry. We asked the deputy commissioners to provide the names of Razakars, Al Badr, Al Shams and anti-liberation forces whose names were on the papers of different government documents.
"We will privately collect the names from the people. But those names will be cross-checked and will be finalized after probe."
Meanwhile, the Home Minister Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal on Tuesday said that the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs did not correct the list of Razakars before publishing, even though his ministry sent a note asking it to verify the information before publishing the list publically.
According to a BSS report, Kamal said his ministry had sent the names of people who had been primarily accused in a case under the Collaborators Order, 1972 to the Liberation War Affairs Ministry.
"The Liberation War Affairs Ministry was supposed to make the list of the Razakars. They asked us to send all available information," the minister said at a programme organised by Bangladesh Krishak League at Bangabandhu Avenue.
"Making a list of Razakars is a tough task. We sent a list to the Liberation War Affairs Ministry with the names of those who were primarily included in the case filed under the Collaborators Order, 1972," he added.
The minister further said, "In the list we made a comment that the names of many people had been dropped from the case but their names were not taken out afterwards. The Liberation War Affairs Ministry should examine the list of Razakars more closely."
In January 1972, the then Bangladesh government had enacted a law to try the collaborators and war criminals. After that, 37,000 people were arrested and sent to jail. About 26,000 were freed following the announcement of a general amnesty.
Around 11,000 were behind bars when the government of Justice Sayem and General Ziaur Rahman repealed the Collaborators Act on December 31, 1975. An appeal spree and release of war criminals en masse followed the scrapping of the law.
