SC: Recognise 2,367 left leaning Liberation War guerrilla fighters

A four-member bench headed by the Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the order Tuesday as it binned a government petition that sought a stay order on the High Court verdict of September 8. As the government filed a petition seeking a stay on the High Court verdict, the Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division on October 9 stayed it till October 30 last year and forwarded the petition to the regular appeals bench for hearing. On that day, the appeals court extended the stay order and asked the government to file a leave-to-appeal petition. The petition was heard on Tuesday. The writ petition was filed in January, 2015, by Pankaj Bhattacharya, deputy commander of the guerrilla force. A gazette notification was also published in July, 2013 by the Liberation War Affairs Ministry terming the guerrillas freedom fighters. But the ministry scrapped the gazette in October the following year without any explanation. The High Court also asked the government to give them proper status, dignity and facilities of freedom fighters while delivering verdict on a writ petition filed by the guerrilla fighters. A special guerrilla force was formed with NAP, Communist Party and Chhatra Union’s leaders and activists on March 26, 1971. The deputy commanders of the guerrilla force formally surrendered their arms to Bangabandhu at Dhaka National Stadium on January 30, 1972. The Bangabandhu-led Bangladesh government had recognised guerrilla fighters as freedom fighters and published their names in government notifications after independence.