Although the government was yet to respond to rules of the High Court regarding the recognition of Biranganas, the female victims of torture and abuse during the country’s Liberation War in 1971, it has already formed a committee to list them and to award them with a recognition similar to that of freedom fighters.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, Deputy Attorney General Mokleshur Rahman also informed it that the finance ministry has already been asked to allocate a fund for the committee.
He said as the issue was time consuming, the government would approach the HC for a time extension for replying to the rules after the ongoing vacation ends on March 31.
“Although responding to the rules was not mandatory, the government should take the Birangana issue seriously,” President of Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association (BNWLA) Fawzia Karim Firoze told the Dhaka Tribune.
“The hearing on the rules did not take place on March 13 as Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury was on leave and the vacation began the next day,” she added.
On January 27, the HC bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Habibul Gani issued a rule asking why the government should not be directed to take steps to recognise Biranganas by preparing a comprehensive list and publishing it through a gazette notification in this regard by, March 26, 2014.
Following a writ petition jointly filed by BNWLA and an individual, the HC also wanted to know why the government’s inaction in recognising or providing privileges to the victims, as provided to freedom fighters, for more than 42 years should not be considered illegal.
It is estimated that the number of Biranganas range from 2 lakh to 4 lakh.