Down Memory Lane: The Devils of 1971 Bangladesh War

 

Part-6

Having seen the direful behavior of using or selling our holy religion - Islam by this so-called Maulana Moslehuddin and Maulana Atahar Ali, I was compelled to keep myself away from my daily prayers for a very long time and I still feel that all my earlier prayers standing back-side of Maulana Moslehuddin have gone astray! 

Abdul Awal Khan, Secretary General of Kishoreganj Sub-division Muslim League (Fazlul Quader Chowdhury fraction) and Secretary of the Peace Committee of Kishoreganj killed hundreds of innocent people by his Chinese Sten-gun under the bridge of Ekrampur which is standing on the bank of the Narashunda river, Kishoreganj in 1971. Those dead bodies were never permitted for burying.

Everybody of our generation knows his ruthless behaviour to our freedom-loving people. Shahnewaz Khan, a bad-mannered man was his father and a very senior person to the generation of our father like people. We called him 'Shahnewaz dada' (dada - grand-father). Sometime in an afternoon time in September, 1971, I went to my class-mate, friend and cousin Shah Anwarul Hoque's house, close to New Town area at Kishoreganj and 15 minutes walking distance from our house. He was a very knowledgeable and intellectual guy on the world political history, especially on the Indian Sub-continent, both East and West European countries, China's Mao thought etc. He was highly influenced by Socialism at such a young age.

I was talking to him about the unspeakable atrocities, mass-scale murdering, rapes, burning of houses, large-scale pillaging of houses of our people by the brutish Pakistani armies and their local Muslim mango-twigs. Suddenly we heard a loud sound at the door of their house. My friend opened the door and we found that Shahnewaz Khan had come to their house and was looking for his father to invite him to a 'Milad Sharif' (a religious ritual) to his house.

He also invited both of us. I then found an opportunity and said to him, "Shahnewaz dada, Pakistan armies' ottachar, khun, dhorshon, loot, ogni shonjog in uncounted numbers amader shojjer biarey choley jacchey. Aponar chaley Awal Khan chacha, Peace Committee-r Secretary hoye onek niriporadh manush hottar jonno dayie' (In short, I condemned the brutish Pakistani armies and their local cronies including his son - Awal Khan). He listened to me minutely, but left the place giving us a squint smile. I could have dared to tell him like this bold way because of my young age. He didn't do any harm to us, but I now feel how bold we were in 1971. It was the fearless and daring spirit which was bestirred in our inner-hearts by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman before he was interned in the West Pakistan on the night of 25th March, 1971.

Joy Bangla slogan and in Bangabandhu Mujib's name, people including me fought fearlessly, countless people died martyred deaths to attain Bangladesh in 1971. This I saw in my own eyes. Even if I faced brutal murder at the wretched hands of the Pakistani military soldiers, I would have boldly pronounced the words - 'Joy Bangla. Joy Bangabandhu.' The new generation of our people has no cognition of this bare fact. They should read and learn how Bangladesh wasmercilessly born. The spirit of 1971 is the cardinal basis of our existence in the world map!

Since Mollah Moslehuddin was lynx-eyed, he didn't face any prosecution for his grievous misdeeds during our glorious liberation war in 1971. Because towards the end of November, 1971, he could fathom his days were running-out fast. So, in a dark night, he camouflaged himself and fled away to Mymensingh District Town where he voluntarily surrendered to the Police Station. He was in jail-house there and facing prosecution charges for his colossal misdeeds in Kishoreganj in 1971. But after the Nation's Founding Father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's brutal murder on 15th August, 1975 and when Gen Ziaur Rahman usurped power in Bangladesh in 1977, he designedly freed all collaborators from the jailhouses. The devils Moslehuddin and Abdul Awal Khan also came out from the prison houses without facing any punishment like other 11,500 criminals taking this advantage. Gen Zia can't get any clemency for this prodigious offence!

During Gen Zia's unequivocally detestable regime, Kishoreganj's pudding head people also elected Abdul Awal Khan with overwhelming number of votes as Chairman of Kishoreganj Municipal Corporation. It was a so outrageous act by our people that I condemned it then in the most corrosive language. This is still not acceptable to me.

Later on, both Maulana Moslehuddin and Abdul Awal Khan died natural deaths without getting any punishment. These sinners got out of the hook of punishment because of Gen Ziaur Rahman like an archfiend!

After Maulana Moslehuddin's death sometimes in 1992, once the death news was published in the newspapers, another Beelzebub - the so-called Prof Golam Azam, the mastermind of mass-murders of 1971 and Chief of Jamaat-e-Islami made a knave statement supporting Maulana Moslehuddin which reads, "Tarmoto eto Islam-priyo abong manabatabadi manush ami amar jibone khokhono dekhini" (I had never known any other such a deep respectful person towards our religion- Islam and ahumanist person in my life).  What an audacity by so-called Prof Golam! An old adage reminds us, "The devil would not listen to the Scriptures."

I was then doing my office with a large business firm situated at Sena Kalyan Bhan, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka. When this statement came to my notice, I became so furious that I wanted to go to Moghbazar in no time to give him some big blows with my foot till he died, but my colleagues prevented me from going there. Golam's feigned avowal then also veritably reminded me an old adage "All thieves are cousins." It is very unfortunate that we couldn't hang this worst Beelzebub of 1971 to death.

Prof Golam's one of the true votaries was K.M. Aminul Haque, a terrible Al-Badr gangster and a daring activist of Jamaat-e-Ismami's student front - Islami Chhatra Shibir at Kishoreganj in 1971. He was senior to me by one year at the renowned Gurudayal College at Kishoreganj in 1971, but he was originally from Austogram Upazilla under Kishoreganj District. His Al-Badr concentration camp was only five minutes walking distance from our house at Kishoreganj. His hands were majorly besmirched with blood for brutally killing countless numbers of innocent people of both Muslim and Hindu communities in 1971.

Once Kishoreganj was liberated in the wee hours on 17th December, 1971, he went into hide-out in his village home form where he was arrested by police for his grievous misdeeds. He also got released from the jailhouse in Mymensingh because of Bangladesh's illegitimate President Gen Zia's politics of skullduggeries.

Thereafter this dreaded murderer K.M. Aminul Haque started a medicine shop at Elephant Road, Dhaka. During another unlawful President Gen Ershad's regime, what an audacity, he wrote a book under the name and style of "Ami Al Badar Bolci" (I am Al-Badr speaking) and this internet link may facilitate anyone to read this book: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/31189515. He has also posted this abominable book in the Internet.

In short, in this book, he has eulogized Al-Badr force conferring only glory to it whereas it was just diametrically the opposite throughout the year 1971 and I have already narrated their barbarous acts through and through my above-noted stanzas as a direct witness to all anti-Bangladesh liberation forces. He was prosecuted by our International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in his absentia and ICT delivered a verdict against him to death punishment by hanging based on the valid evidences. But he has still been remained on the run. (To be continued…)


Anwar A Khan is an independent political analyst who writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs