Bangladeshi court imprisons 1971 war veterans, university professor on terrorism charge

Dhaka: A Bangladeshi court on Friday sent 16 people, including several 1971 Liberation War veterans, to jail under the tough Anti-Terrorism Act, a day after a mob allegedly disrupted their scheduled public discussion in the capital.

Magistrate Farzana Haque ordered them to be sent to jail after they were produced in court nearly 24 hours after their detention.

Police had initially detained them for their protection from “public unrest” on Thursday.

Dhaka police after midnight Thursday said the detainees were being charged under the Anti-Terrorism Act of 2009 without further elaboration.

The initial case document submitted in the court suggested at least six of the 16 arrested were in their 70s.

"For the sake of a proper investigation, which is yet to be completed, and the identity and address of the accused is yet to be verified, it is ‘absolutely necessary’ to keep the accused in custody," read the police application submitted in court.

According to media reports, former minister and 1971 war veteran Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Dhaka University law professor Hafizur Rahman Curzon, and journalist Manjurul Alam Panna were among those sent to jail.

Abu Alam Shahid, freedom fighter and retired secretary to the government, who joined Thursday’s meeting, said several of those arrested were 1971 veterans.

“Most of the senior persons arrested were 1971 veterans as yesterday’s meeting was a freedom fighters discussion,” the former bureaucrat said.

Newly-formed veterans' platform 'Moncho 71' organised the discussion at the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) auditorium and at the onset of the meeting, the mob allegedly stormed the scene.

They called the organisers and participants of the event "accomplices of the fascist regime" of deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina.

However, Shahid said to his knowledge “no Awami League leader” was there at the event.

Former minister Siddique was expelled from Hasina's cabinet and the party for breaching discipline in 2014.

The violent uprising led by the Students against Discrimination (SAD) toppled Hasina's Awami League regime on August 5, 2024, when she left the country for neighbouring India.

Three days later, Nobel Laureate Muhammad Yunus took over as the Chief Advisor of the interim government.

The 'Moncho 71' platform was launched earlier this month, announcing that it would uphold the "1971 Liberation War, Bangladesh's founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the 1972 Constitution, the national flag and the national anthem".

The group that stormed the DRU auditorium identified themselves as the 'July warriors' as they tore down the banner of the discussion and allegedly assaulted some of the participants.

"Freedom fighters of all political backgrounds were invited to the event. Soon after the programme started, more than 25 men came to the scene and created chaos," 1971 veteran Golam Mostafa told media persons.

Liberation War veteran and lawyer ZI Khan Panna, a key-organiser of ‘Moncho 71’, who had not joined the event due to health issues, in a video message on social media called the mob “a group of miscreants”.

He said the assault “reflects what freedom of expression now exists in the country” under the interim government.

The DRU later issued a statement saying the organisation is an open platform. “Everyone has freedom of expression here. Threats or obstruction from any party are not acceptable here,” it said.

The 1971 veterans were sent to jail two days after secretary general of former prime minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged that efforts were underway to erase the 1971 Liberation War from people's memories.

“Many efforts are going on to make people forget 1971... those who helped the enemies at that time are now speaking loudly,” the BNP leader said, referring to the country’s largest Islamist party, Jamaat-e-Islami party, that opposed Bangladesh’s 1971 Independence from Pakistan.

“We fought in the (independence) war of 1971. We have not forgotten 1971. It is not possible to forget,” he added.