The 2013 Shahbag protests, associated with a central neighbourhood of Dhaka, Bangladesh, began on 5 February 2013 and later spread to other parts of Bangladesh, as people demanded capital punishment for Abdul Quader Mollah, who had been sentenced to life imprisonment, and for others convicted of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal. On that day, the International Crimes Tribunal had sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah to life in prison after he was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes. Later demands included banning the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami party from politics and a boycott of institutions supporting (or affiliated with) the party.
Protesters considered Mollah’s sentence too lenient, given his crimes. Bloggers and online activists called for additional protests at Shahbag. Tens of thousands of people joined the demonstration, which gave rise to protests across the country.[14] By mid-April, their numbers had declined, and the original protest site is now clear.
A counter-protest, demanding release of those accused and convicted, was launched by Jamaat-e-Islami as its leaders were the majority of those first identified for trial. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) initially expressed its support for Jamaat-e-Islami, a principal political ally. But, the BNP cautiously welcomed the Shahbag protest, while warning the government not to make political mileage from a movement demanding capital punishment for war criminals.
During the protests, Ahmed Rajib Haider, a pro-Shahbag blogger, was brutally killed outside his house by machete-wielding youth.[18] On 2 March, five Jamaat-Shibir activists were arrested; they ‘confessed’ involvement in Rajib’s killing, though independent verification and investigation is not possible at this stage. On 27 February 2013, the tribunal convicted Delwar Hossain Sayeedi of war crimes and sentenced him to death. Jamaat followers protested and there were violent clashes with police. About 60 people were killed in the confrontations; most were Jamaat-Shibir activists, and others were police and civilians.
Historical context
In 1971 Bangladesh was the portion of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan known as East Pakistan. In the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh, East Pakistan fought West Pakistan for nine months. During this period the Indian Army which provided guerrilla training to freedom fighters of Mukti Bahini, joined the war on 3 December 1971 in support of the liberation of East Pakistan. Armed conflict ended on 16 December 1971 through surrender of the Pakistani Armed Forces to India, resulting in the formation of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh as a free, secular and independent state.
According to the famous Blood telegram from the United States consulate in Dacca to the State Department, many atrocities had been committed by the Pakistan Army and its supporter Razakars and Al-Badar militia. Time reported a high-ranking US official as saying, “It is the most incredible, calculated killing since the days of the Nazis in Poland.” Estimates are that one to three million people were killed, nearly a quarter of a million women were raped and more than ten million people fled to India to escape persecution.
A paramilitary force known as the Razakars was created by the May 1971 Razakar Ordinance promulgated by Tikka Khan, the governor of East Pakistan. The ordinance stipulated the creation of a volunteer force, trained and equipped by the provincial government. Razakar (Bengali: রাজাকার) comes from رضاکار (razākār, the Urdu word for “volunteer”). However, it became a derogatory term in the Bengali language due to the widespread killings of civilians and atrocities committed by the paramilitary during the war. The war criminals, mostly young men, were never brought to trial, since Bangladesh needed to bargain with Pakistan for the return of 200,000 Bengalis stranded in Pakistan at the end of the war.
The majority of East Pakistanis supported the call to create a free and independent Bangladesh during the Liberation War. A small number of Pakistani supporters and members of fundamentalist political parties, particularly Jamaat-e-Islami (JEI) and its student wing Islami Chatra Sangha (ICS, Bengali: ইসলামী ছাত্র সঙ্ঘ Islami Chhatro Shônggho), the Muslim League, the Pakistan Democratic Party (PDP) Council and Nejam-e-Islami, collaborated with the Pakistani army to resist the formation of an independent Bangladesh. The students belonging to Islami Chatra Sangha were known as the Al-Badr force; people belonging to Jamaat-e-Islami, Muslim League, Nizam-e-Islami and similar groups were called Al-Shams, and the Urdu-speaking people (generally known as Bihari) were known as Al-Mujahid.
Since 2000, there has been an increasing demand in Bangladesh for justice related to war crimes committed during the 1971 struggle; the issue was central to the 2008 general election.The Awami League-led, 14-party Grand Alliance included this issue in its election manifesto.Its rival, four-party alliance (which included the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami) had several leaders alleged to have committed war crimes.The former freedom fighters and sector commanders of the liberation war pleaded with the public not to vote for alleged war criminals in the election.
The Grand Alliance won the election (held on 29 December 2008) with a two-thirds majority, based in part on its promise to prosecute alleged war criminals. On 29 January 2009 the new Parliament unanimously passed a resolution to prosecute war criminals. The government intended to use the 1973 law: the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act. The government worked to amend the law, updating it and incorporating other nations’ experience. The amendments provided for the trial of individuals and political parties that had worked against the liberation of Bangladesh. The government was empowered to appeal tribunal decisions.
On 25 March 2010, the Awami-led government announced the formation of a three-member tribunal, a seven-member investigation agency, and a twelve-member prosecution team to conduct the trials under the ICT Act 1973.The panel of three judges included Fazle Kabir and Zahir Ahmed, with Mohammed Nizamul Huq as chairman. Abdul Matin, Abdur Rahim, Kutubur Rahman, Shamsul Arefin, Mir Shahidul Islam, Nurul Islam and M. Abdur Razzak Khan were appointed to assist the state prosecutors. Golam Arif Tipu was named Chief Prosecutor. Others prosecutors were Syed Rezaur Rahman, Golam Hasnayen, Rana Das Gupta, Zahirul Huq, Nurul Islam Sujan, Syed Haider Ali, Khandaker Abdul Mannan, Mosharraf Hossain Kajal, Ziad Al-Malum, Sanjida Khanom and Sultan Mahmud Semon.