Abdur Razzaq, the assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami and chief of the defence team representing its top leaders facing war crimes charges, has been nowhere in the scene since mid-December last year, just after the execution of war criminal Abdur Quader Molla.
His colleagues claim that he has been abroad since the government is trying to restrain him from taking part in the trial processes.
They say Razzaq’s choosing self-exile is a political decision. Party sources say he is now staying in London. In the last two months, he also visited the US and Canada to lobby with international policymakers regarding the party’s position.
Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission was declared illegal by the High Court last year. Since then, the senior Jamaat leader has been lobbying with foreign diplomats at home and abroad over taking part in the election.
The party has always tried to hide the position of Razzaq and also stayed mum about his visits abroad.
In his last conversation with the defence team from outside the country, Razzaq asked them to continue the trial proceedings and that he would not be able to come and join them because of “personal difficulties.”
Seeking anonymity, a reliable source in the party said his exile was part of a “political plan.” “Everybody knows the cause, but nobody is ready to speak about it,” said the senior leader.
The Twitter account and the Facebook page of Razzaq show that he had not posted any updates after December 24.
The junior counsels are whispering that the government may “harass” him in cases once Razzaq returns from abroad.
Last November, Razzaq claimed repeatedly that the government had plans to accuse him for war crimes.
The comment came after Chairman of a faction of Islami Oikya Jote Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury in his deposition in a war crimes case stated that Razzaq had met other alleged war criminals soon after the war in London.
Defence counsel Tajul Islam said: “We do not want to lose him. So he is out of the country, but not detached from us.”
Law Minister Anisul Huq said there was no bar on Razzaq’s return and that the allegations of possible harassment were baseless.
Sources in the defence team also said they were wondering why Razzaq had been remaining absent during the appeals case hearings at the apex court. The sources confirmed that he had been lobbying with powerful states.
Razzaq in December said the party wanted to change their image in India. And in the West, they were stronger than any party. He also met Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, a special UN envoy, during his last visit to Dhaka ahead of the January 5 parliamentary election.
Another source said Razzaq was trying to convince the Jamaat sympathisers citing the “government crackdown” on its leaders and activists in the last year during street agitation over the January 5 election and the war trial verdicts.
A senior prosecutor said Razzaq had also “played game” to stop the execution of Quader Molla. Now he went on self exile and was trying to politicise his move, he said.
