It must have been a muggy day on August 22 at Akhaura in 1971. The war was in full swing and the freedom fighters had a formidable presence along the other side of the border in India. The rolling hills of the area were witness to heavy battles during those months.
The village of Tanmandayl, close to the border, was most likely within the Muktibahini artillery range too. Locally known as a collaborator, razakar Mobarak Hossain and several accomplices called a meeting that afternoon at the house of one Noor Baksh.
The 130 odd villagers who gathered had little idea what was in store for them. It was all pre-planned, they found out later. The Pakistani Army surrounded them as they gathered at the appointed spot and took them away to the nearby army camp at the bank of Gangasagar lake by boats.
Mobarak and his accomplices swung into action there. They asked the villagers if any of their relatives had gone to join the Liberation War. The collaborators selected 26 from Tanmandayl and seven from a neighbouring village. These 33 were detained at a local jailhouse overnight, while the rest were kept at the camp.
The 33 were taken out the next day and taken back to Gangasagar bank. The razakars and the Pakistani Army personnel made them dig a ditch. Those villagers were then executed and buried there. The rest were eventually released, but only after torture.
That Mobarak Hossain was sentenced to death yesterday. The war crimes tribunal of Bangladesh found him guilty for killing those 33 unarmed civilians during the war.
Also known as Mobarak Ali, he was sentenced to life in prison for his role in the murder of one Abdul Khaleque, whose daughter had lodged the first complaint against Mobarak in 2009. He was acquitted in three other charges.
It is the 13th case in which the two war tribunals have delivered judgement so far.
The five charges on which Mobarak was indicted on April 13 last year include abduction, confinement and torture. The case was kept for verdict on June 2 this year.
During the trial, 12 prosecution witnesses testified against Mobarak whereas the accused himself and his eldest son Asad Uddin gave depositions as defence witnesses.
The 64-year-old rose to the rank of Rokon, full member, of Jamaat-e-Islami after the war. He later joined the Awami League but was expelled in 2012 as the organising secretary of Mogra union unit under Akhaura upazila.
In his testimony on December 15 last year, Mobarak said he had not acted against the country’s independence. He claimed that he still held the post of organising secretary. “My membership has not been cancelled yet. I was never sacked from the party,” he said.
While the prosecutors yesterday were “satisfied,” Mobarak’s defence lawyers said they would appeal against the verdict since the tribunal had “failed to analyse the evidence.”
Gonojagoron Moncho, a platform of activists demanding the highest punishment for war criminals, welcoming the verdict brought out a procession at Shahbagh. Sector Commanders Forum, a platform of freedom fighters who led the 1971 Liberation War, urged a swift execution of the sentence.
Mobarak’s home district Brahmanbaria saw a procession come out on the streets cheering the verdict.
The International Crimes Tribunal 1 in its verdict said: “We have taken due notice of the intrinsic gravity of the said offences of crimes against humanity which are particularly shocking to the conscience of mankind.”
The tribunal began reading out the 92-page verdict soon after it convened at 11:15am amid a comparatively relaxed atmosphere. Security in and around the tribunal was visibly low compared to other judgement days as was the turnout of observers, activists and lawyers.
Considering the “gravity and magnitude of the offences...we unanimously hold that the accused deserves the highest punishment...,” Justice Enayetur said.
The three judges took turns in reading out the judgement as customary at both the war crimes tribunals. Justice Jahangir Hossain read from the verdict: “We are convinced from the evidence both oral and documentary led by the prosecution that accused Mobarak Hossain was a potential member of Razakar Bahini [force].”
Razakar, besides al-Badr and al-Shams, was a vigilante militia group mostly manned by members and supporters of Jamaat-e-Islami and other right wing parties that favoured Pakistan over Bangladesh. The Razakar units were notorious for abetting the Pakistani occupation forces across Bangladesh during the Liberation War.
The term “razakar” has since become synonymous with “collaborator” in Bengali.
Prosecutor Sahidur Rahman, who had conducted the case, said he was satisfied with the verdict. Asked about the acquittal in three charges, he said: “We proved that Mobarak was indeed a razakar. We are satisfied.”
Sahidur, most of whose cases – Bachchu Razakar, Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan – have been tried in absentia, also noted that Mobarak had been found guilty and sentenced to death.
Mobarak’s counsel Tajul Islam said: “We believe that the tribunal has failed to analyse the evidence presented before it.”
Tajul and his younger brother Tariqul Islam, who represent Mobarak, are also on the defence teams of the top Jamaat leadership accused of war crimes.
He said the prosecution witnesses had contradicted each other. “His crimes were not such that he deserves the death penalty.” Tajul said the defence would appeal this judgement.
Barely 10 minutes away from the tribunal premises, activists of Gonojagoron Moncho welcomed the death penalty with cheers.
Speaking to reporters at the Shahbagh intersection, its spokesperson Imran H Sarker said: “There was an uncertainty that the verdict might be influenced as Mobarak had joined the ruling party after the Liberation War.”