Dhaka University teacher Prof emeritus Anisuzzaman yesterday said fugitive war crimes accused Chowdhury Mueen Uddin had been involved in the abduction martyred of Prof Mofazzal Haider Chowdhury on the eve of independence.
The 20th prosecution witness in the case against alleged al-Badr leaders Mueen and Ashrafuzzaman Khan, he told in the International Crimes Tribunal 2 that he had heard from Lutful Haider Chowdhury, the brother of the martyred intellectual, that Mofazzal recognised Mueen when he was being abducted.
“Lutful told me that on December 14, some youths came to his house. At one point, one of the youth’s handkerchiefs tied around his face felt down from his face. Mofazzal at that point said, ‘Mueen Uddin you!’ The youth while tying the handkerchief again on his face answered, ‘Yes. You will go with us, nothing to be scared of,’” said Prof Anisuzzaman, who had been a member of the first Planning Commission of Bangladesh.
The witness said he first came to know about the killing of intellectuals on December 17, 1971 via newspaper reports. “I came back to Bangladesh on January 8, 1972. The next day, I went to visit the families of Mofazzal and Munier Chowdhury.
“At that time Syeda Monowara Chowdhury, wife of martyred Mofazzal, told me, ‘Your students have abducted your sir,’” Prof Anisuzzaman said.
He said there was no doubt that Mofazzal had been tortured to death. He saw Delwar Hossain’s interview on television and read his statement too. “This Delwar was one of the people who were abducted by the al-Badr force. He eye witnessed the torture of intellectuals at Mohammadpur Physical Training Centre. Delwar managed to survive miraculously.”
Prof Anisuzzaman also mentioned about the news clippings of the daily Purbadesh, the Dainik Bangla and the Ittefaq of 1972 where Mueen had been identified as the operation-in-charge of al-Badr and Ashrafuzzaman the chief executor.
He said the names of intellectuals had been written in the diary of Ashrafuzzaman. It was later published in newspapers with a title “Jollader Diary [diary of a butcher].” That diary also contained the name of martyred Mofazzal.
The witness added that Mueen had been a student of Bangla department at Dhaka University and a reporter of the daily Purbadesh in 1971. “He was my student too when I was at Dhaka university in 1969.
“I also saw Mueen in London in August, 1979. I was in India Office Library and was preparing myself to write for my upcoming book. I saw Mueen going inside a room of the library. He also saw me and greeted me though it seemed he was not willing to do so.
“Few minutes later, I could not find him in the room. I came downstairs and went through the visitor’s book. I saw his name there too but there was no address after his name. The preceding entry was of the press attaché of Pakistan High Commission in London. Later I went to Mueen’s table and saw him watching a microfilm of the Statesmen published in 1971,” Prof Anisuzzaman told the tribunal.
The witness said he had been working as a reader in Chittagong University in 1971. After the crackdown on March 25, he had become involved in building resistance against the Pakistani occupation army in the campus area