Over the last four decades since independence, the widows and orphans of Sohagpur village in Nalitabari of Sherpur waited and prayed for one thing – trial of the killers of their husbands and fathers, and justice. But with the lapse of time, their hopes for justice faded gradually.
Even when the war crimes tribunal was set up in 2010, they did not believe that Jamaat-e-Islami leader Kamaruzzaman would be brought to book someday. He was the infamous al-Badr chief and leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha of then greater Mymensingh, who along with his accomplices, led the Pakistani Army to the village on July 25, 1971.
They became hopeful only after people from the village started testifying at the International Crimes Tribunal in the case filed against the top Jamaat leader. They were relieved after the tribunal delivered its judgement in May last year sentencing Kamaruzzaman to death.
Supreme Court’s final verdict yesterday in the appeal case somewhat eased them of their psychological agonies as the notorious war criminal enjoyed impunity for long.
“We knew that the Supreme Court will not break our hearts. After we, from the village, deposited against Kamaruzzaman in the tribunal, we were sure that no one will deny the truth, no one will strangulate our hopes,” said Mohammad Jalal Uddin, son of martyr Safir Uddin of Sohagpur. He was the 10th prosecution witness in the case.
Jalal told the tribunal how his father and paternal uncle had been killed on that day along with at least 245 others and the large number of rape incidents. Following the massacre, Sohagpur (village of love) was renamed as Bidhoba Palli (village of widows).
“Our village is still one of the poorest villages of the country. In 1971, they [Pakistani occupation forces and collaborators] killed most of the bread-winners forcing their dependants to beg and starve. We are yet to come out of the curse,” he said.
Jalal was happy to hear that the ring leader of the collaborators would be hanged. “Baka Bura, Nasa and Kadir Daktar were razakars while Kamaruzzaman was their chief. They committed the atrocities after bringing the Pakistan Army members into the village,” the 62-year-old witness said.
“The Pakistani Army along with razakars and al-Badr men came to Sohagpur village around 7am. My brother and I hid on hearing the news.
“After sometime, when the shooting stopped, I saw four bodies on the east side of Suruj Ali’s house. When I rushed to my house, I saw 11 bodies in the yard – my father Safir Uddin, my paternal uncle Kitab Ali, my cousin Monnas Ali, and Mohammad Ali, Momin Mia, Kutum Uddin, Rejot Ali and Iman Ali and some other unnamed people,” Jalal added.
Another witness Mosharraf Hossain Talukder, whose elder brother Golam Mostafa had been caught by the al-Badr men and executed, said: “My brother’s soul will finally rest in peace. I pray so that I can live until he [Kamaruzzaman] is hanged.
“I was feeling unsafe after I gave deposition at the tribunal. But later the tribunal verdict gave me relief. Now we all are waiting for his execution,” Mosharraf said.
His brother was taken to the al-Badr camp on the night of August 23, 1971. Mostafa, then an HSC examinee, had gone out to buy batteries for his radio as he used to listen to the Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra, a pro-liberation radio station broadcast from the Indian territory. Mostafa also received training in India.
His uncle Tofail Islam met Kamaruzzaman, then a leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha – Jamaat’s student wing, and pleaded for the release of Mostafa.
Mosharraf said later that night, Kamaruzzaman and some al-Badr men took Mostafa to the nearby Sheri Bridge area where he was first tortured and then shot dead. The collaborators also cut one of his knees off with a bayonet and tore off flesh from the other.
