Dhaka University (DU) students yesterday expressed mixed reactions over the death of war crimes mastermind Ghulam Azam, who breathed his last on Thursday night at the intensive care unit of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
Soon after the news of his death spread on Thursday night, a group of DU students took out a procession in the Teachers and Students Centre (TSC) area of the campus and chanted slogans against Gulam Azam and other war criminals of the 1971 Liberation War.
In the slogans, the students said the Pakistani collaborator had no right to be buried in Bangladesh and demanded that his body should be sent to Pakistan for burial.
Talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, some students expressed satisfaction over his death while many others said they were disappointed as Ghulam Azam was spared from punishment because of old age.
“We were not ready for the natural death of a war criminal, we expected him to be hanged for the crimes he committed during 1971,” said Hussain Saddam, a first-year student of the law department.
“A notorious war criminal like Ghulam Azam does not deserve a natural death, he should have been executed for his crimes,” said Bahar Uddin, a graduate student of the university’s philosophy department.
On Friday morning, general and former students of the university along with members from several cultural, political and social bodies organised a rally demanding quick punishment of all war criminals.
Meanwhile, several organisations, including Bangladesh Online Activists Forum, National Democratic League, Kazi Aref Foundation and a faction of Ganajagoron Mancho arranged rally in front of National Press Club demanding Ghulam Azam’s body to be sent to Pakistan for burial.