Sir — Kabir Chowdhury, a professor who became the icon of anti-communalism through his decades-long active stance against the forces of evil and injustice, succumbed to a cardiac arrest on December 13 in Dhaka. The reputed academic, considered as a voice of conscience during many national crises, was 89.
The legendary writer was identified with a number of defining movements in Bangladesh. Born in 1923 in Brahman-baria, Kabir Chowdhury studied English Literature at Dhaka University in the early 1940s and joined the university as a teacher in 1974.
He wrote around 250 …

The completion of the war crimes trial will bring a painful episode in Bangladesh’s history to a close. It will establish the rule of law, and make young citizens understand how religion was abused to justify murder and rape.

Last Updated: Wednesday, December 07, 2011, 17:12
Dhaka: The first prosecution witness of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal on Wednesday testified against a top suspect of 1971 war crimes who was indicted two months ago on 20 charges of “crimes against humanity” during the Liberation War.
Court officials said a 1971 freedom fighters’ commander Mahbubul Alam Hawladar appeared as the first witness since the Tribunal was constituted in March last year to try the Bengali-speaking perpetrators of 1971 war crimes.
He testified against fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, who is the first …

Dhaka: Visiting UN Secretary General Ban-Ki-moon on Tuesday supported the government’s initiative to bring to justice those accused of “crimes against humanity” during Bangladesh’s 1971 ‘Liberation War’.
“For any nation, dealing with the darker aspects of the past is essential to creating unity and building a healthy, brighter future,” he said in a lecture at Dhaka University, which conferred upon him an honorary doctor of law degree.

He said Bangladesh was seeking to deal more fully with the legacy of 1971, establishing a war crimes tribunal and took “other important steps” in …

This year marks the fortieth anniversary of the creation of Bangladesh. Four decades on, the history of the 1971 conflict and war remains controversial in Bangladesh. These disputes are neither merely academic nor purely historical. Rather, they have a real contemporary political resonance. The hubbub over the initiation of war crimes trials against collaborators with the Pakistan army testifies to this link between the past and the present. Sarmila Bose’s book is relevant to many of these debates.
Bose’s basic contention is unexceptionable. The 1971 conflict was not only about the …

KOLKATA: Bangladeshi writer activist Shahriar Kabir on Saturday pleaded for capital punishment of war criminals found guilty in the Bangladesh liberation war of 1971. Kabir came to Kolkata to attend a seminar on death penalty.
“I believe that the decision to award death penalty should be taken very carefully,” the writer said at the seminar. But while saying so, he drew a distinction between ordinary criminals and war criminals. “Those responsible for the death of thousands of innocent people deserve death penalty,” said …

Dhaka: Veteran opposition lawmaker Salauddin Qader Chowdhury, a key suspect in Bangladesh’s Liberation War time “crimes against humanity”, on Thursday appeared before a special tribunal for the first time and demanded that he be allowed to defend himself.
Chowdhury, a leader of ex-premier Khaleda Zia’s main opposition BNP, was brought before the packed International Crimes Tribunal from the suburban Narayanganj Jail under heavy security, two weeks after his arrest from the capital on the 1971 war crime charges.
“During the nearly 30 minute (hearing) he (Chowdhury) …

Internal Developments
With the arrest of senior BNP leader, Salahuddin Quader Chowdhry, the Awami League (AL) government has sent out a strong signal to the opposition that it will not back-off from a confrontation if the opposition chooses such a path. Chowdhry’s arrest was not entirely unexpected since his name had figured prominently in the list of alleged war criminals who are likely to be tried on charges of crimes against humanity by the International Crimes Tribunal. In fact, just before he was arrested, …

Nearly four decades after the 1971 war, Pakistani school textbooks continue to focus on conspiracy theories involving India, Russia and the US regarding the creation of Bangladesh while glossing over the Pakistan Army’s atrocities in the erstwhile East Pakistan.
While the findings of Pakistan’s Hamood-ur-Rehman Commission on the 1971 Indo-Pak war were never made public, students at the Matric and Intermediate levels of school (Classes nine to 12) “are being taught conspiracy theories and a factually incorrect version of history”, according to an article on the website of the Dawn newspaper.
The …

Fourteen years ago, at a time when the internet in India was still young, I had put up a website on the 1971 India-Pakistan War. It was a huge hit. But the site rapidly ran out of bandwidth and I was stuck with a massive bill. I quickly told the server operators to shut down the site, but within
hours I was deluged by emails offering monetary assistance. The response was overwhelming and even after all these years I have never had the heart to take down the site.
One of the …

Dhaka, Dec 15 (IANS) Bangladesh’s largest Islamist party, the Jamaat-e-Islami – facing charges of targeting unarmed civilians during the 1971 war – has now accused India of killing a score of academics 39 years ago, a day before the country celebrates its Bijoy Divas (Liberation Day).
The charge by Jamaat-e-Islami leaders came on the day the country paid homage to a group of Dhaka University teachers and artists who were pulled out of their homes and killed on the night of Dec 14, 1971.
This …

A memorial park and museum in memory of Indian soldiers and warriors of the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War is being built at Chottakhola, a border village about 130 km from Agartala, by the Tripura government.
The forest department has been entrusted with work for the 20 hectare park which encompasses seven hillocks and a lake, state Forest minister, Jiten Chowdhury who hails from the area, told PTI.
A statue of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujiber Rehman would be set up in the park at Chottakhola in South Tripura which …