Freedom fighters and pro-liberation activists yesterday called upon the government to amend the country’s constitution so that the convicted war criminals cannot get presidential clemency.
They said the pro-liberation government has two-thirds majority in the parliament, which is required to amend the constitution and it should exercise this scope right away so that no new president could acquit the war criminals.
The speakers were addressing a gathering of Ganajagaran Mancha in front of National Museum to protest the International Crimes Tribunal verdict against former Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Ghulam Azam terming it lenient.
They expressed discontent and dismay at the verdict saying the nation did not wait for 42 years to hear this kind of judgment against the mastermind of the collaborators who opposed the birth of Bangladesh.
“Soon after the verdict was delivered, the state minister for law told the media that he was pleased. His reaction left me to wonder whether he was here to stage a drama or anything,” rights activist Shipra Bose said.
Freedom fighter Abul Kalam Azad said: “The ministers who make people laugh did not participate in war, but we did. You only have four months left. Stop making fun or you will lose the bottom of your basket,” he said.
Sangita Imam of Udichi Shilpi Gosthi alleged that the verdicts varied in terms of influence of the war criminals. But it is not justice.
“When Sayedee was handed down death sentence, the tribunal said they had sat there to hold trial of Sayedee for what he had been in 1971. At whose signal did the tribunal change its stand?” she posed a question.
Barrister Tureen Afroz, a prosecutor at the tribunal, stressed upon the need for unity among pro-liberation forces to get justice from the tribunal.
“We have to forget the differences and stop waging wars within ourselves. If we are not strategic, then our movement which is aimed at upholding justice would be a cause for the fall of our government,” she said.
Ganajagaran Mancha convener Imran H Sarkar said the platform would meet Attorney General Mahbubey Alam this morning to request him for filing an appeal against the Ghulam Azam verdict.
He also said the Mancha would arrange a photo exhibition on the Liberation War on July 26 and 27.
