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Bangladesh Independence Day marked with call to try war criminals
Thousands also gathered at the Shahid Minar, a memorial for soldiers in Dhaka, lighting candles and shouting for war criminals to be prosecuted.
- AP
- Published: 00:17 March 27, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Bangladeshi children wave their national flag during the Independence Day rally at the national memorial of freedom fighters in Dhaka on Wednesday.
Dhaka: Bangladesh celebrated 37 years of independence on Wednesday with ceremonies and military parades, as protesters urged the government to prosecute those who collaborated with Pakistan during the war of independence.
Just after midnight, war veterans, victims' families and supporters across Bangladesh switched off their lights for a minute of remembrance for the millions of Bangladeshis killed in the 1971 war and to demand the punishment of war criminals and collaborators.
Thousands also gathered at the Shahid Minar, a memorial for soldiers in Dhaka, lighting candles and shouting for war criminals to be prosecuted.
On March 26, 1971, Bangladesh, then the eastern flank of Pakistan, declared its independence from Islamabad following years of political and economic discrimination by West Pakistan. Official figures say about 3 million people were killed and millions more displaced during an ensuing nine-month war.
East Pakistan officially became the nation of Bangladesh on December 16, 1971.
Torture and rape
While the majority of East Pakistanis supported the 1971 war, a few sided with Pakistan, assisting in the killing, torture and rape of their compatriots. Most collaborators were not punished because of a general amnesty in 1973.
Others avoided prosecution when a law against collaborators was repealed in 1975.
Subsequent governments have not addressed the issue, despite repeated calls for justice.
The Sector Commanders' Forum, made up of guerrilla leaders from the 1971 war, organised the blackout early yesterday.
Demonstration
The forum said it hoped the demonstration would highlight its demands for the establishment of a special war crimes tribunal, and the barring of known war criminals and collaborators from political office, according to The Independent newspaper.
Army chief Moeen U Ahmad said on Tuesday he was optimistic that the military-backed interim government would consider holding war crimes trials.
"I hope the government will definitely look into what the people want in this regard," Ahmad said.
At dawn yesterday, President Iajuddin Ahmad and other Bangladeshi leaders placed wreaths at a national monument to war heroes near Dhaka and later attended a military parade near the National Parliament complex in the capital. Similar military parades took place across the country.
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