The inhabitants of Raozan upazila in Chittagong have vowed to resist the burial of notorious war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury, better known as Saka Chowdhury, in the locality.
They are enraged sensing that family members of the former BNP lawmaker, hailing from Gohira of Raozan, might be taking preparation to bury him at the family graveyard after the jail authorities hang him for the crimes he had committed in 1971.
“Baitul Bilal” in Gohira is Salauddin’s ancestral house. His father Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, the chief of Convention Muslim League who died in jail after the war, was also accused of torturing and killing pro-liberation people at their Goods Hill residence in Chittagong city.
Salauddin, now 66, was sentenced to death for the murder of Kundeshwari Oushadhalay founder Nutan Chandra Singha on April 13, 1971, and 20 years in prison for genocide at Modhyo Gohira the same day.
On April 29 this year, leaders and activists of the local Awami League and the BNP locked into a fierce clash over the burial of Salauddin’s younger brother Saifuddin Quader Chowdhury.
The gunfight ensued as local Awami League-backed MP Fazle Karim Chowdhury, also a cousin of Salauddin, was barred from participating in the funeral by the BNP activists.
Yesterday, several hundred locals led by the AL leaders and activists brought out processions and held rallies against the burial of Salauddin’s body at Gohira.
Meanwhile, the Chittagong University chapter of Bangladesh Chhatra League also vowed to resist the move of carrying the body of the war criminal in front of the campus. They would not allow his body be buried at anywhere in Chittagong.
On the other hand, Sharif Chowhan, Chittagong coordinator of Gonojagoron Moncho, yesterday said that they had no programme regarding the burial of the war criminal.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, upazila Awami League President Shafiqul Chowdhury yesterday said that they would resist any attempt to bury the war criminal in Raozan.
“We cannot allow a notorious war criminal like Saka Chowdhury to be buried in the sacred soil of Raozan where revolutionary Surya Sen, popularly known Master Da, was born,” said the former mayor of Raozan.
During the trial process, the influential BNP leader wanted to prove that he had been in Pakistan during March 29, 1971 to April 20, 1974, which means the charges brought against him were baseless. But he failed. He also produced forged documents to prove his claim that he had been studying at Punjab University in Lahore at that time.
Salauddin began his political career with the Muslim League and later joined Jatiya Party of military strongman HM Ershad. He served as the health minister at that time. In 1991, he was elected a lawmaker from the National Democratic Party, and twice from the BNP – in 1996 and 2001.
Chittagong Superintendent of Police AKM Hafiz Akhter told the Dhaka Tribune that they were yet to receive any official message regarding the burial of Salauddin’s body at his family graveyard. “However, tight security measures have been taken in Chittagong to avert any untoward incident,” he added.
Lt Col Emarat Hossain, the commanding officer of BGB 28 Battalion, said that six BGB platoons were deployed in the district while four others kept standby as precaution.