Law Minister Anisul Huq has said the allegations raised against Piash Karim’s father MA Karim that he was a collaborator during the 1971 Liberation War and committed war crimes are “absolutely false.”
Terming his involvement in the killing of Dhirendranath Datta “mere propaganda,” the minister yesterday also ruled out the accusation that Piash’s family members possessed anti-liberation values.
His comment came at a time when there have been arguments whether Piash Karim had favoured the Jamaat-e-Islami as he spoke against the war crimes trials. Pro-Awami League organisations, student bodies and cultural platforms also claimed that his father had been the local Peace Committee chairman during the war.
“I am giving my personal opinion on his family members as I know them very well.
“MA Karim, the father of Piash Karim, did not carry out his charges as the Peace Committee chief. Rather he was the founding treasurer of Comilla district unit Awami League,” Anisul told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday at his Secretariat office.
“Although he was compelled to join the local unit Peace Committee as its chairman only two months before the victory, he did not lead or conduct any act of genocide. He helped many freedom fighters by giving them identity cards during the war,” the minister said.
“Just two months before the victory, the Pakistani Army picked Piash up from in front of their Comilla house and kept him in the Circuit House. Later, MA Karim was forced to sign a bond and join the Peace Committee when he went to the Circuit House for his son’s release.
“But after leaving that place, he never served as the Peace Committee chief, rather continued distributing ID cards among the freedom fighters.”
Anisul said MA Karim had been arrested along with other collaborators after the independence. But he was released unconditionally after only eight days.
MA Rahim, Piash’s paternal uncle, was an establishment secretary after the independence, during the rule of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“I know them very closely as MA Karim was the closest friend of my father as lawyer. Their family is very close to me. His sister Toufiqa Karim is my business partner.
“The issues propagated against MA Karim and Piash are sheer lies and have no basis.”
A professor of Brac University’s economics and social sciences department, Piash died of cardiac arrest on October 13 at the age of 56.
On that day, Mahfuz Ullah, secretary general of Centre for Sustainable Development, announced on behalf of the “citizens” that the body would be taken to the Shaheed Minar on Wednesday for the people to pay respect. The date was later shifted to Friday.
Following the announcement, several groups declared protest programmes to resist the move.
Though initially they had agreed with Mahfuz Ullah’s proposal, Piash’s family members later decided not to do so as the Dhaka University authorities did not give permission to bring his body to the Shaheed Minar.
Asked why he did not make any comment immediately after Piash’s death, the minister said: “The government is not responsible to make it clear because it was not a part of the protest that triggered immediately after the announcement that his body will be taken to the Central Shaheed Minar.
“Piash should have clarified the rumours and criticisms against him in his lifetime.”