Senior Jamaat-e-Islami leader Maulana Abdus Subhan had led the killing of over 100 unarmed civilians, mostly Hindus, at Satbaria union of Pabna in a single day during the 1971 Liberation War, said a freedom fighter yesterday.
SM Shamsul Alam, 65, told the International Crimes Tribunal 2 that the war crimes accused had also been present during the atrocities in Fokitpur, Sujanagar, Momrazpur areas under Pabna sadar.
After the end of his deposition, the witness alleged that Subhan’s goons had cut his vein in 2001 and he had to receive treatment in India for three years. “My brother filed a case against Subhan at that time, but the BNP-Jamaat alliance government withdrew [stopped] the case after coming to power. Shamsul pleaded with the tribunal to reopen the case for justice.
The witness was a college student during the war. He passed his SSC from Ataikula School.
Testifying against the Peace Committee leader, the freedom fighter said he had witnessed the atrocities of Subhan and his gang by hiding himself in a bush near the Satbaria Union Parishad office.
“Around 6am on May 12, 1971, Subhan came to Sujanagar with the Pakistani occupation forces. The villagers were frightened since the anti-liberation forces started firing indiscriminately. Subhan got out of his white car and had a discussion with the Pakistani Army officers. A few minutes later, the army men shot dead four civilians, Cheton, Roton, Ghugri and Modon.”
The witness said he had also seen smoke rising from the nearby Tarabaria, Fakitpur and Satbaria areas.
“When the Pakistani Army men left Sujanagar for Sindurpur, I came out of the bush and went to Kadua – some three kilometres from Satbaria – and later to Sindurpur. On the way I saw signs of brutality by the occupation forces, Subhan and his cohorts,” he stated.
Shamsul said he had seen scattered bodies of around 100 people on the banks of the Padma River in Satbaria.
He also said he had seen many bodies lying abandoned in front of Jhoru Halder’s house in Gandharvpur area. “I buried at least 18 bodies in a single grave,” he recalled.
He said when he had gone to his village, Tarabaria, he saw each and every house had been burnt to ashes.
After his deposition, defence counsel Shahjahan Ali asked him one question and then sought time to conclude the cross-examination. The tribunal then adjourned the trial until August 13.