Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has said legal action should be taken against Daily Sangram for calling executed war criminal Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla a "martyr."
"We will speak with the Home Ministry on this matter," he said this to reporters after paying tribute to the martyred intellectuals on the occasion of the Martyred Intellectuals Day on Saturday, reports UNB.
Quader, also general secretary of ruling Awami League, said the evil communal power which attacked freedom fighters, Bangalis in 1971, and killed intellectuals, is still spreading its poison.
"It is our pledge today to prevent and defeat this evil communal power. We will take oath to root out the poison of communalism. We will unite the nation," he said.
While responding to reporters about war criminals who are staying abroad, the minister said: "We are looking into the matter [and] action will be taken on time."
He said the government is also trying its best to bring back the killers who fled abroad.
A mouthpiece of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the Daily Sangram published a front-page article on Thursday (December 12) naming Abdul Quader Molla, assistant secretary general of Jamaat, as a "martyr."
Known as "Butcher of Mirpur" during the Liberation War, Quader Molla was hanged on December 12, 2013 for crimes against humanity including the massacre of unarmed civilians and the killing of intellectuals in 1971.
It was the first execution of a war criminal in Bangladesh. Quader Molla was also the executive editor of Daily Sangram.
Meanwhile, Jatiya Party Chairman and Deputy Leader of Opposition Golam Mohammed Quader also said calling Quader Molla a martyr-- is completely unacceptable.
He said: "Martyr's death bears a significance for Bangladesh, and I do not think Quader Molla's death has any connection with martyrdom."
Our party also protests against Daily Sangram, he added after paying tribute to the martyred intellectuals.
