The prosecution’s third witness in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Maulana Abdus Subhan claimed, yesterday, that he had joined Mujaheed Bahini, a group of collaborators, because he was forced by the accused and the Pakistani occupation forces.
Md Abu Asad, 62, said, at the International Crimes Tribunal 2, Subhan had kidnapped him and four others from the Joynagar village on April 15 of 1971 in order to use them as guards in the Pakistani Army camps and torture cells.
“The accused took us to the army camp near the Hardinge Bridge in Ishwardi and said ‘I am Subhan from Pabna. As a Muslim, like me, you have to protect East Pakistan from today. If anyone tries to ignore this directive, he will be shot dead,’” he quoted.
The witness said he had witnessed many rapes, stating, “I saw how the collaborators violated a woman in front of her husband and shot her dead. We used to encircle the villages at the time of atrocities so that none of the villagers could escape the place.”
The accused was acting ameer of the Pabna unit of Jamaat and chairman of the Peace Committee. He also allegedly led the “Mujaheed Bahini” in the district. On December 31 last year, tribunal 1 indicted Subhan on nine charges. The case was later transferred to tribunal 2 on March 27.
Asad told the tribunal that they had been trained from the very beginning with the Mujaheed Bahini, stating, “We were on duty at Hardinge Bridge where the collaborators killed confined pro-liberation people.” He claimed that Subhan had sometimes shot people himself, with his pistol, for Maj Jaitun of the Pakistani Army.
The witness said on May 2, Subhan, along with the Pakistani troops, had gone to Shahpur village and killed at least 20-25 unarmed villagers including Chand Ali, Rajab Ali and Shamsul. He was only 20 feet away from where the shooting took place. When they returned, the army officials were in cheerful mood and speaking about how they violated women at the village, the witness said.
Asad said he had also been tortured by Subhan for helping two fellow members to flee. Subhan forced him to accept that he had helped those persons but the witness had denied the accusations.
The witness said he had fled the torture camp from near a culvert of the Hardinge Bridge at the end of November. He then met Khairuzzaman Babu, commander of the Khadimpara freedom fighters’ camp and left with them for the Jalangi camp to take training. After the liberation, he returned to an independent Bangladesh and took a job as a railway security guard.
After his deposition, defence counsels began cross examining him. However, the tribunal adjourned the proceedings until next Monday keeping the trial incomplete as the defence asked for more time.
