by Ali Asif Shawon in Dhaka Tribune, Aug 19, 2023
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) recently made a rare overt show of support for its ally Jamaat-e-Islami by expressing deep shock and sorrow at the death of Jamaat-e-Islami leader and former MP Delawar Hossain Sayedee, who was sentenced to life imprisonment for crimes against humanity during the Liberation War of 1971.
This is the first time that the BNP has mourned the death of a convicted war criminal from Jamaat. The major opposition party had remained silent when other Jamaat leaders were hanged for crimes against humanity.
Surprisingly, some leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League also mourned and expressed sadness over the death of Saydee on social media, describing him as a renowned islamic scholar. The Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling party, has temporarily suspended at least 50 leaders and activists for mourning the death of the Jamaat leader.
Bangladesh Chhatra League President Saddam Hussain said: “The recent incidents are not showing an ideological crisis of the Chhatra League. Chhatra League has taken organizational action against those who had sympathies for a war criminal, and we have shown zero-tolerance against them.”
He added that Chhatra League is planning a “purification campaign” for the “intruders.”
“We cannot deny that Jamaat has brainwashed a generation in the name of religion and was unchallenged for a long time. It was only Awami League and Chhatra League who challenged Jamaat and their propaganda,” the Chhatra League president further said.
Among the suspended activists, 18 are from Jamalpur, 16 from Chittagong, seven from Pabna, six from Narsingdi, and three are from Satkhira. The activists are accused of going against the Chhatra League’s ideology, according to press releases signed by the presidents and general secretaries of the respective Chhatra League units.
Some of the suspended leaders are even members of upazila and grassroots committees.
Upon observing the situation, several former Chhatra League leaders have expressed concern that the student wing may be going through an ideological crisis.
Some leaders and activists on subcommittees of the Awami League also committed “the offence” of mourning Saydee, but the majority of the offenders were Chhatra League leaders, the former Chhara Leaguers added.
On condition of anonymity, a former Chhatra League leader told this correspondent: “There was a rumour that members of Bangladesh Islami Chhattra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat, have been getting appointed to posts in the student wings of the Awami League over the last decade. As the Awami League has been in power since 2009, the Chhatra Shibir leaders have been changing sides to get some benefits from the party in power.”
The condolence messages for Saydee appear to support the rumour, he added.
The former Chhatra League leaders stressed the need to run background checks on activists to avoid another “awkward situation” like this in the future.
“If another incident like this happens, then it will defame the Awami League, as the party came to power with the pledge to try the war criminals,” one of the leaders said.
Another leader said it has become more important to satisfy “big brother” than to show dedication to the party ideology in order to get posts on committees.
On Friday morning, while delivering a speech at a program of the Dhaka University Chhatra League, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader gave directives to identify and remove “infiltrators” from the student wing.
“Infiltrators should be identified. They have no right to stay in the Chhatra League. Whatever their party posts are, an intruder is still just an intruder. They must be identified, this is your sacred duty,” he said.
Since the International Crimes Tribunal’s inception on March 25, 2010, it has delivered judgments in 34 cases against 83 war criminals. Among the accused, 52 were sentenced to death until August 2018. https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/322882/is-the-chhatra-league-facing-an-ideological
