More than a generation after the Liberation War was fought and won, the government has set itself the task of defining just who counts as a freedom fighter.
The ruling Awami League-led government admitted it was beleaguered by a spate of applications for freedom fighter status amid allegations that some who made it to the list made by the liberation war affairs ministry and Bangladesh Muktijoddha Sangsad were fakes.
Forty-three years after the liberation war, the government has formed the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (Jamuka) which decided at its first meeting that it would set out to define exactly who could be considered a freedom fighter.
Enlisted freedom fighters are entitled to an allowance of Tk5,000 per month, quotas in government jobs and an extra year of service before retirement.
A sub-committee led by parliament member Motaher Hossain, former state minister for primary education, was formed at the meeting to prepare a draft definition of freedom fighter.
The sub-committee was given until September 14 to work out the definition and submit its report to Jamuka.
Jamuka will finalise the definition at its September 14 meeting, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mojammel Haque told reporters after yesterday’s meeting.
According to the ministry, there were currently around 102,500 enlisted freedom fighters in the country. More than 187,000 new applications were pending.
Between FY 2000-2001 and FY 2010-2011 the Department of Social Services fund for freedom fighters’ honorariums rose from Tk150m to Tk3600m, according to the department’s website.
Mojammel Haque said Jamuka had decided to run a two month drive to re-examine and scrutinize applications for freedom fighter status. The drive will commence after the September 14 meeting.
Alleged fake freedom fighters and new applicants would be scrutinized during the drive, he said.
The meeting yesterday also formed a committee led by former chief whip and parliament member Abdus Shahid to prepare a draft amendment to the existing Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (Jamuka) Act.
It was decided that Jamuka would be upgraded into a department and shift its office from its current location in Moghbazar to a more suitable place, he said.
