Prof Syed Anwar Hossain of Dhaka University (DU) on Wednesday said he was with martyred intellectual Prof Gias Uddin when he was abducted by armed men in ash-coloured uniforms on December 14, 1971.
He said Prof Gias was abducted by anti-liberation forces because he had been assisting the freedom fighters. Prof Gias was a history department teacher at DU.
After his deposition, defence counsels Abdus Shukkur Khan and Salma Hye cross-examined him. The tribunal adjourned the proceedings until July 29 for the next witness.
Prof Anwar is the prosecution’s fifth witness against war crimes accused Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan.
Earlier, Masuda Banu, a niece of Prof Gias Uddin, gave her deposition at the tribunal as the first prosecution witness in the case against the alleged leaders of al-Badr, a paramilitary force formed by the members of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha.
The tribunal 2 began the trial on July 15 in absentia as the accused, now staying abroad, did not respond to the summons. They were indicted in 11 charges of crimes against humanity that includes killing of 18 intellectuals. Mueen Uddin was the “operation-in-charge” while Ashrafuzzaman played the role of “chief executor” of the al-Badr.
In his deposition Prof Anwar said: “During that time, I was an assistant house tutor of Mohsin Hall, Dhaka University. On December 14, 1971, Prof Gias who was a house tutor of the hall went there – since a glitch was detected in the water supply system – and put the switch off.
“As we were returning [from the hall], one person dressed in ash uniform asked sir ‘Are you Gias Udin?’ As sir replied ‘Yes,’ the unknown man asked him [Prof Gias] to follow him.”
Prof Anwar said another man in uniform joined them, and that they both had 303 rifles with them. They raised the guns at Prof Gias Uddin and asked him to move with them.
“Sir told me, ‘Anwar, I am going, pray for me.’ That was the last sentence sir told me. That day, not only Prof Gias Uddin, but also many other teachers including Santosh Chandra Bhattacharya and Abul Khayer were abducted from the university.”
He said after the war they found out from newspapers that Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman were leaders of the intellectual killings. The witness said on January 3, 1972, the New York Times also published reports saying that these two Bangalees were behind the killing of intellectuals.
