The government is mulling legal measures against those attaining forged freedom fighter certificates.
Moreover, the parliamentary committee concerned has suggested collective action against the freedom fighter impersonators as they illegally enjoy state facilities.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque told Bangla Tribune that they have written to the Law Ministry for its opinion on the potential legal action.
The next course of action depends on the feedback of the Law Minister, the minister said.
Meanwhile, sources at the Liberation War Affairs Ministry said small-scale cases can be filed against fake freedom fighters in a bid to set an example. However, the wholesale filing of cases against all freedom fighter imposters will cause legal tangles and pose the threat of a fund crunch to deal with the lawsuits.
As a result of the potential drawbacks, the government is initially considering taking measures against a handful of fake freedom fighters.
Marking Mujibnagar Day on April 17, Mozammel revealed that the government had removed around 8,000 individuals from the list of freedom fighters due to discrepancies in their claims.
Even so, there has been no official information from the government as yet.
The relevant wing of the Liberation War Affairs Ministry says that it has the information on the certified freedom fighters.
The Jatiyo Multijoddha Council (Jamuka) claims that it prepared the list of the war heroes.
The minister in a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the Liberation War Affairs Ministry on April 18 raised the issue of fake freedom fighters.
The minutes of the meeting reveal that 8,000 fake freedom fighter certificates had their certificates revoked by then. The certificates were obtained through forgery.
Mozammel threatened at the meeting that he would sue the fake war heroes to recover the allowances they received from the state coffer. Interest would be added to the amount too.
Maj (retd.) Rafiqul Islam Bir Uttam, president of the parliamentary panel, on April 18 echoed Mozammel’s sentiment while suggesting that a gazette be published naming the fake freedom fighters.
He urged the ministry to take necessary measures in this regard.
“Or else, it will be tougher to ensure the rule of law,” he feared.
In a follow-up meeting on Wednesday, the parliamentary committee submitted a progress report on the suggestions made previously.
“In line with the suggestion of the Jamuka, the certificates of fake freedom fighters named in the gazette who availed government allowances should be revoked and their information must be removed from the management information system (MIS),” the committee’s report suggested.
The report went on to say: “Their allowances should be stopped instantly. The deputy commissioners and upazila nirbahi officers should be asked to take measures to recover the money spent on the fake freedom fighters.”
The report did not mention exactly how many fake freedom fighters faced punitive measures.
The certificate wing of the ministry does not have the list of the 8,000 freedom fighter impersonators, according to the report.
“The certificate wing initiates measures for preparing and distributing digital certificates of original freedom fighters through proper procedures involving the MIS,” the report said.
Measures in accordance with the law can be taken against the 8,000 fake freedom fighters once their list is available, it concluded.
Mohammad Afrajur Ramhan, assistant secretary (certificate wing) of the ministry, said that they do not have the list now.
“This is because no such list is usually sent to us. Once the gazette of war heroes is canceled, the budget wing of the ministry can take relevant measures,” he said.
When contacted, Jamuka Director General (acting) Md Rubaiyat Shamim Chowdhury said the list is being prepared.
“That’s why it is yet to be submitted to the ministry,” he said.
Responding to the issue, Mozammel confirmed to the news outlet that they are mulling lawsuits against fake freedom fighters.
“But we’re yet to finalize what to do next. We’ve approached the Law Ministry for its opinions in this regard. The next course of action depends on their takes,” he said.
Liberation War Affairs Ministry sources said several thousand cases have been filed over the fake freedom fighter issue.
Experts fear that the crisis may deepen further if more cases are filed mindlessly as there is always the possibility of a backlog of cases and the issue of funding their procedure.