Tale of a terrible Al-Badr Commander of 1971 in Bangladesh

This dreaded Al-Badr Commander named KM Aminul Haque belonged to Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) mass-murderers of 1971, a fugitivefor the last eight years, sentenced to death for war crimeson November 5 in 2018 by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh. He was arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion on 2nd July, 2022 from Kalabagan area, Dhaka. His byname is Rajab Ali. He is now aged 69. Look at his unbounded audacity. This self-confessed mass-murderer wrote a book titled 'Ami Al-BadrBolchi' ('I am Al-Badr speaking'). His temerity is irremissible under any setting.

Aminul went into hiding in 2014 after the International Crimes Tribunal started an investigation into his crimes against humanity during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.He was found guilty of murder, looting, arson, torture, and kidnapping in Kishoreganj, Bhairab, Brahmanbaria, and Habiganj in 1971.He principally served as the commander of Al-Badr killing squad atKishoreganj Sub-Division Sadar (now District).

After independence, he surrendered to the Joint Forces on December 18, 1971 at Kishoreganj. Three cases were filed against him at the Ashtagram police station in 1972 under the Bangladesh Collaborators Act. He was sentenced to 40 years in jail in these cases.Aminul was freed through the abominable military ruler like Gen Zia's presidential clemency in 1981, and in the following year, he moved to a Middle Eastern country and then went to Pakistan several times to carry on hisdisgraceful propaganda against the creation of Bangladesh in 1971.The terrible gryphon Aminul moved to Dhaka in 1997.

In 2014, the International Crimes Tribunal filed a case against Aminul on charges of murder, genocide, kidnapping, detention, torture and looting during the Liberation War. He was indicted in 2015 and sentenced to death in 2018.During the trial in 2014, the prosecution said Aminul received arms training at the Pakistan Army camp in Kishoreganj'sBhairab in 1971 and later formed the local unit of savage Al-Badr militia to assist the Pakistani forces in and around at Kishoreganj.Forty-three people, all from the Hindu community besides so many Muslims, were shot dead during those horrific days of 1971 by Aminul and his gangsters in collusion with barbarous Pakistani army.

As we know "in Islam, creating social discord or disorder, breach of peace, rioting, bloodshed, pillage or plunder and killing of innocent persons anywhere in the world are all considered most inhuman crimes." But the great lie propagated by Jamaat-e-Islamis is not far to seek. "The violence, degradation and denigration, mass murder, assault, intimidation and other disgraceful acts perpetrated by them, ordered and encouraged by their leaders, proves that it is the most dangerous death cult on the planet and by far the biggest menace to civilised society".

However, during our independence war of 1971, I was a college student. During those hard times, Jamaat-e-Islami's Al-Badr concentration camp was not very far from our residence situated at Kishoreganj Town (Now Kishoreganj District). Duk-bunglow (now the District Council Building), the Pakistan army's local headquarters was also the same distance from our house. Being an eye witness, I am now giving hereunder a brief account of the atrocious cruelty committed by them especially under the direct command of KM AMINUL HAQUE ALIAS RAJAB ALI(I have cited a few incidents only out of so many horrendous incidents):

1. Professor Mahtabuddin (at that time, he was teaching Political Science at Gurudayal College, Kishoreganj) was the Jamaat-e-Islami Chief of the then Kishoreganj Sub-Division (now District). I saw him many times that he had been encouraging the Al-Badr killing squad to kill the innocent people. Every day, he used to come to the Al-Badrs concentration camp situated at the Bunglow of the then Kishoreganj Railway Station Master (after forcibly driven away the Station Master and his family from his allotted quarter) to boost them up to kill more and more people in the name of religion-Islam. The entire Al-Badr and Al-shams, the killing outfits of Jamaat-e-Islamithroughout  Kishoreganj Sub-Division (now District), was under his direct operational command.

2. One afternoon, sometime in August, 1971, an innocent boy was caught by the Al-Badr gangsters. He was inhumanely tortured on the main road at broad day light near the Kishoreganj Railway station; he was bayonetted; he was bleeding profusely and groaning; he was tied with strong ropes behind a Rickshaw (human peddler) putting his two legs upward. All these atrocities they committed pronouncing "Naraye Takbir, Allah-hu akbar. Pakistan Zindabad. Pakistan is the Holy place of Islam." He was forced to say "Pakistan Zindabad," but he did never say so.Rather, he repeatedly said "Joy Bangla." "Joy Bangabandhu."

Then, a microphone was equipped with that Rickshaw and then these creatures of hell made campaigns throughout the town showing that poor dying boy that the same dire consequences would happen with those who would be Mukti Bahini (Liberation Fighters) or their supporters. And thus, announcement was made all over Kishoreganj Town showing this dying poor boy.

It created a tremendous panic throughout the Town. Prof. Mahatab came, saw him and with a great smile applauded his accomplices (Al-Badrs), asked them to make all-out efforts to catch such people and encouraged them to eliminate the so-called enemies of their beloved Pakistan in such a brutal or the other ways. The boy then died a martyred death for the cause of this motherland. His body was refused for burial and allowed the decomposed body to eat by the vultures, jackals and dogs and other human-flesh eaters.

3. I shall now narrate another ghastly incident. One afternoon in 1971 (possibly in September), I was passing through the main road from Kishoreganj Railway Station to Newtown area, when I reached before the house of Advocate Emdad Mia (situated just beside the main road), I found that some members of Al-Badr were pronouncing "Naraye Takbir, Allah-hu Akbar" and simultaneously after inhumanely beating, forcibly made a boy to lie down on the grass beside the main road and slaughtered that boy with a big knife like as we usually sacrifice the cows on the Eid-ul-Azha day. The two pieces of the dead body were then thrown into the marshy land beside the road and allowed for eating by the vultures, jackals and dogs and other human-flesh eaters. No burial was allowed.

4. The river Narasunda is nearby to our house at Kishoreganj. During the months of August-up to early December, 1971, I saw many young people were inhumanely tortured and taken blind-folded near to the bank of that river, brutally bayoneted and then shot them to death pronouncing "Naraye Takbir, Allah Huakbar". Thereafter, they kicked them off to the Narasunda River. No dead body was permitted for burial by them.

5. They were directly involved in rape, arson and looting and burning of houses of innumerable people. I saw how they helped supplying Bengali women-folk - both Muslims and Hindus to the local army head-quarters at Kishoreganj.

6. On the morning of 17th December 1971 (Kishoreganj Town was liberated on that day early morning); I entered into that Concentration Camp of Al-Badr along with some of my co-fighter friends and found its floor with ankle deep thick human blood. One can now easily imagine how and what was the extent of torture made on those un-armed and innocent human-beings in this concentration camp by the Jamaat's killing squad-Al-Badrs. Those helpless people could never go back to their parents.

Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) and its people do not like the truth about them be told. Whenever the truth is told, they riot, kill, burn, destroy, threaten and intimidate people without mercy. They look like Muslims and wear Muslim dresses but in fact, they are anti-Islamist, anti-Muslim and the bitter enemies of humanity. They are thieves, liars, mass killers, looters, rapists and what not. They did all these heinous crimes during our liberation war using the name of Islam.

Jamaat is not a religious party as it is a dangerous death cult. It seems that they don't mind using any methods to achieve their aim, including mass murder, terrorism, intimidation and any other barbaric means. They are human-being in appearance only but in actuality, they are the devils. These griffins want to make Bangladesh a place of public execution once more. These mass killers, the bitter foes of the humanity, must be brought to justice wherever and whenever found. We must repeatedly expose their masked faces in the hardest language so that the people in general, especially the youth, understand their guile characters. EXPOSE THEM AND DESTROY THEM.

I reiterate that the safest thing for us all is to look at eradicating this menace from our society for the safety of our populations. Otherwise, they will bring about another holocaust for the people of Bangladesh, once again, with much larger magnitude than that of 1971. JeI and its various outfits deserve banning and this is the dire emergency need of the hour.This devil - horrendousAl-Badr Commander KM Aminul Haque is now in jail after eight years of on-the-run. He must not escape the hangman's noose because of his colossal misdeeds to our innocent in 1971 when Bangladesh was going to born.


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