A tribunal yesterday compared Syed Mohammed Qaisar to a leader of a pack of wolves and sentenced him to death for the heinous crimes that he had committed during the Liberation War.
The war crimes tribunal labelled him a high profile criminal with a political background of jumping ship at opportune moment.
Qaisar’s war-time crimes include mass killing, rape, abduction, confinement, torture and other inhuman acts committed by his aides and Pakistani occupation force.
This was the first ever war crimes case where not only a rape victim but also her war child gave witness deposition against accused Qaisar for his “act of substantially contributing, facilitating and abetting” Pakistani army in raping women.
The proved charges against Qaisar “indubitably fall within the kind of such gravest crimes which tremble the collective conscience of mankind,” said the International Crimes Tribunal 2 verdict in the war crimes case against him.
The convicted war criminal committed heinous crimes in Habiganj district during the war in 1971 after forming his private armed outfit named “Qaisar Bahini” to foil the birth of Bangladesh.
The Tribunal in its verdict termed Qaisar Bahini a “pack of wolves.”
The tribunal said this notorious private force “collaborated with the Pakistani occupation army with extreme ferocity in carrying out appalling activities directing pro-liberation civilians, under the infamous “headship” of Qaisar.
Qaisar, now 73, throughout his political career, before and after the independence, has been involved with right-wing communal political parties – conventional Muslim League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and military dictator HM Ershad-led Jatiya Party. After that he joined PDP.
After the Liberation War victory he fled to the UK and returned to the country in 1978 during the militarty regime of Ziaur Rahman.
He won the controversial national election during Major General Ziaur Rahman’s regime in late 70s as a member of parliament from a constituency in Habiganj district.
But it was a widely discussed issue yesterday among the lawyers present in the tribunal during the pronouncement of the verdict that Qaisar also has relation in laws with some influential leaders, minsters of ruling Awami League.
Qaisar’s two brothers and a nephew were present in the packed court room during the verdict delivered by the 3-member tribunal – Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan and members Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Md Shahinur Islam.
Justice Obaidul alone read out the summery of the 484-page judgment in an hour that began around 11am. The convicted Qaisar was sitting in the dock sporting an olive-coloured sweater and a coat over a punjabi with a pair of pyjamas.
When Qaisar was sitting in the dock he placed his trembling hands on his walking stick as if he could not hold onto it any longer due to his old-age complication.
But after the verdict when Qaisar along with his brothers, nephew and lawyers was taking his lunch inside the lock-up of the tribunal he was eating Biriani and seemed to be quite all right.
Qaisar’s lawyer said they would appeal against the verdict with the Supreme Court. The prosecution brought 16 charges against Qaisar and the tribunal found him guilty in the 14 and acquitted him in two charges as his involvement was not proved.
Among the 14 charges the tribunal sentenced Qasier to death for each of the seven charges. Of them, five for murders and two for mass rape. In the seven other charges he was awarded jail in different terms.
“We are of the view that war-time rape can be seen as raping the whole community,” tribunal judges said in the verdict.
“Rape victims Hiramoni Santal and Majeda Begum (in Qaisar’s case) belonged to pro-liberation culture and community,” the verdict said adding that the perpetrators’ intention was to malign the dignity of the entire community.
“Hiramoni Santal and Majeda Begum were the victims of “genocidal rape”, said the tribunal verdict.
Majeda gave witness deposition as a rape victim in Qaisar’s case. Shamsunnahar, war child of Majeda, also gave witness deposition to the tribunal.
Soon after the verdict was pronounced Majeda, who lives in Chunarughat of Habiganj, in her instant reaction told the Dhaka Tribune over phone: “We are happy and we do not have any more demand.”
Hiarmoni, a former tea garden worker from under privileged Santal community now more than an 80-year-old women, could not appear before the tribunal to give witness deposition due to her illness but gave a written statement, according to Tureen Afroze, a prosecutor of the case.
Four of the seven other charges include murders, abduction, confinement, torture and other inhuman acts for which the tribunal sentenced Qaisar to imprisonment for life till death.
In the rest three the tribunal awarded Qaisar 10 years, seven years and five years in jail respectively.
The offense for which the tribunal awarded Qaisar 5 years in jail is the only charge where the tribunal found Qaisar guilty by a majority view.
Chairman Justice Obaidul and Justice Shahinur found Qaisar guilty in the charge but Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah did not find him guilty.
In the judgment, the tribunal made many observations about rape especially during the war.
The verdict said the mass rape was not only an attack on an individual but also to her family, community, society and the entire humanity.
Qaisar constituted the principal crimes by handing over the captured civilians to the army. In respect of some events of brutal killing of civilians it was proved that the accused Sayed Md. Qaisar consciously and knowing the consequence accompanied the group of army towards the killing sites.
As a local potential aide and a man of strong pro-Pakistan ideology accused Qaisar sided with the Pakistani occupation army not only in attacking the civilians in Habiganj town on 30 April 1971, said the tribunal.
The verdict said: “Naturally, the Pakistani army was unfamiliar with the layout of Habiganj town and locations of residences of the targeted pro-liberation civilians and Hindu people.”
“It was accused Syed Md Qaisar who not only accompanied the group of army men but also with malicious intention guided, substantially contributed and abetted them in accomplishing the act of wanton destruction,” said the verdict.
“Qaisar physically participated in abducting civilians and kept them confined and caused torture for the purpose of extracting whereabouts of freedom fighters.”
“Qaisar by accompanying the group of army made them effectively able in getting the pro-liberation civilians and the local Awami League leaders identified and captured,” the verdict said.
“On his identification, the army had carried out massive and wanton destruction of civilians’ property causing grave detriment to non combatant civilians’ fundamental right and mental harm to them as well,” said the verdict.
Death for murder and mass rape
On 27 April 1971 at about 7pm Qaisar being accompanied by Qaisar Bahini and a group of Pakistani occupation armed force launched an attack on pro- liberation civilian population of village Krishnanagar under Madhabpur police station in Habiganj.
They looted households and destructed 40-45 houses by setting them on fire. Following Qaisar’s instruction the army shot four civilians – Ahid Pathan, Cherag Ali, Jonab Ali and Madhu sweeper to death.
On 29 April 1971 about 1am to1:30 pm Qaisar and his para-militia force members arrived at the food godown at Shaestaganj of Habiganj and physical tortured the employees and officers of the godown and kept them detained there at gun point for about one month.
On 29 May 1971 about 3:30pm Qaisar and his force members along with anti-liberation peace committee members and members of Pakistani occupation armed force came to the godown.
They brought seven confined persons from the godown to beneath the rail-bridge over the river Khoai and then following Qaisar’s instruction the army shot them to death.
On 29 April 1971 in between 3:30 and 4pm at a place of Puran Bazaar point at Shaestaganj, Qaisar asked the members of Pakistani armed force to stop the Jeep by which Dr Salehuddin and Hirendra Chnadra Roy were on the way to Indian border to take refuge in India.
Stopping the jeep the army men dragged them to the premises in front of the native house of former Chief Justice Syed AB Mahmud Hossain at Laskarpur along the bank of river Khoai.
They were hanged there with a tree and were subjected to torture and after the dusk they were shot to death and their dead bodies were left abandoned near the house of one Ramjan Ali alongside Laskarpur rail line.
On May 11, 1971 about 10am Qaisar accompanied a group of Pakistani occupation army towards Chanpur Tea Garden under Chunarughat police station of Habiganj and on their arrival the group tortured the garden laborers and dwellers belonging to Hindu community and at a stage entered the dwelling hut of one Santal woman Hiramoni.
Qaisar asked the army to enjoy [ravish] and with this 2-3 army men raped Hiramoni.
On June 13, 1971 about 2 to3pm Qaisar being a leader of his private armed outfit Qaisar Bahini instructed its members and Razakar (anti-liberation) force to forcibly pick up local organiser of liberation war Shah Firoz Mia from his house at Mokambari locality under Habiganj police station in Habiganj.
Firoz was first brought to Habiganj police station where he was kept confined for one night and the following day he was brought to Shaestaganj R&H Duck Bungalow where Qaisar handed him over to the Pakistani army.
On information, Shah Hossain Ali, son of the abducted and confined victim Shah Firoz, returned home on July 16, 1971. On the very night of his return he too was apprehended by Qaisar Bahini and Razakars and brought to Habiganj police station.
The following day he was handed over to the Pakistani army at R&H Duck Bungalow at Shaestaganj wherein he was kept detained for 20-25 days and during this period the army men inflicted severe torture causing grave bodily injury to him leading to amputation of his left leg.
He was however released at the end of August 1971. But his father Shah Firoz Ali had been handed over earlier to the army. Shah Firoz could not be traced.
At noon of any day of mid August of 1971 Qaisar, his aides and Razakar force, brought Majeda Begum, her father Atab Mia and uncle Ayub Mia to the army camp set up at Jagadishpur High School under Madhabpur police station.
Qaisar handed Majeda Begum over to the army for their entertainment, despite protest on her father’s part. The army men thus committed successive rape upon Majeda, during night for 8/10 days and later on physically and mentally devastated Majeda.
She was left abandoned at a place near Temunia Primary School. Majeda, from that place, managed to return home somehow and received necessary medical treatment and few days later she felt her pregnancy that resulted from the forcible sexual invasion caused to her at the army camp
On November 15, 1971, between 7 to 7.30am and 3 to 3.30pm Qaisar led a group of members of Razakar force, peace committee, Qaisar Bahini and the members of Pakistani armed force.
They launched attack on civilians of villages Daura, Nishcintapur and twenty other villages under Nasirnagar police station of Brahamanbaria district and created horror by indiscriminate gun firing around the crime sites, setting houses on fire, looting households of civilians, with intent to destroy the Hindu religious community, either whole or in part.
In conjunction with the horrendous event, Qaisar and other perpetrators killed 108 unarmed civilians.
