War Criminal Trial Bangladesh 2013

Discussion in 'Politics' started by Nave 'Torment', Feb 16, 2013.

  1. Nave 'Torment' Vigilante Detective

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    Shahbagh 2013



    Dear everyone,


    This last Friday, 15th February 2013, I went to Shahbagh, the Projonmo Chattar, with my father at around 8 pm and stayed there till after 11 pm. The protestors demanding the fair and just punishment for the Razakars, the war criminals of our 1971 Liberation War thronged this historical square by tens of thousands.


    Now, I know that there are critics out there who is going to call this protest meaningless given the politics that is being played: the murder of Bishojit, the murder of the blogger Rajib, the rape of countless Hindu women after the elections, the ambush attack on the buses on the 14th of this month—all set in place to agitate the people to direct to what politicians might want.
    Now I will not claim that I understand enough of that. I don’t know enough of the history of my country to understand why and how things have turned out this way. I am one of those who can’t speak my own mother tongue without mixing English into it.


    However, what I saw that night on the 15th was beyond expression. Never in my life did I see such unity. Never in my life did I feel so safe, where my being a girl amongst hundreds of men did not pose a threat or insult of any kind to my safety or person. I saw parents with their toddlers there, protesting all night. This I know is not politically motivated. This I know is the heart of the people, the heart of the country.
    And the people want the execution of the war criminals. Which is fair. Which is just.


    Now, I have heard people say about how we ought not to focus on the past and go and face the future. That we should demand the justice for Bishojit and the women who are being raped now and not getting justice. But how can we do so, if we didn’t demand the justice for the lakhs upon lakhs of Bishojits who were butchered in 1971, of the lakhs and lakhs of our women, our Birangonas in 1971? How will we have the voice to protest for the injustices now, when we didn’t defend and protect the rights of our freedom fighters who sacrificed everything for whatever freedom we have now?
    We need this execution of the war criminals. This is not blood-thirst. This is justice. We need to see that those who betrayed and butchered their own people, will not get away unpunished. That there is justice in this world, and there is meaning in the Liberation War that was fought, that the struggle of the freedom fighters and the Birangonas was not in vain.
    And another thing: Why isn’t BBC and CNN covering this? What are they waiting for? Bloodshed? To show how out of control our country and our people are? This is why we should not react rashly. This is why we need to be calm. This is why we cannot quickly and rashly politicize this without considering all the possible consequences.


    And thus, a word of caution. The death of Bishojit and now the murder of Rajib—we know that these incidents are not random. However, we cannot react to it violently, because that is what they want. That is how politicians play with the emotions of the people. Even if a certain group of people should attack us, we should not strike back no matter how much we have the right to, because that will satisfy their political agenda. We started this protest for the execution of the war criminals. Let it be that and only that. Let us be peaceful no matter how much the Jamaat might burn buses and cars randomly.


    We are not the attackers. We are not the criminals. We are not the aggressors.


    We are the peaceful public. We are the ones who were victimized.
    So, why should we pick up the weapons like they do? How many people will they kill? They killed Bishojit, they outnumbered him shamelessly, and they cornered him and then hacked this unarmed man to death. They killed Rajib. They killed him in secrecy, and dumped his body and ran away. How many more such Bishojits and Rajibs will they kill? Two? Ten? Twenty? Fifty? A hundred? Two hundred? How many more people will they kill before the whole country stinks from the stench of dead bodies?
    However, we need others to know about this. We need support. We need recognition. Which is why we need you to see this and support us, the Bangladeshi people in our efforts.


    Joy Bangla.

    http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/latest_news.php?nid=44766
    http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=269173
    http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=269251
    http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/at-shahbagh-bangladeshs-fourth-awakening/article4419445.ece
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shahbagh_Square
    http://shahbag.org/
    http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=268142
    http://bdnews24.com/media-en/image/2013/02/16/slain-blogger-rajib-at-shahbagh
     
  2. Baramos Registered

    Joined:
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    Poster is referring to this:

    http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/w...ladesh-protests-killing-of-activist.html?_r=0

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bangladesh_Liberation_War

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1971_Bangladesh_atrocities

     

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