Reception to judges of Gono Adalat
'People to bring war criminals to justice someday'
Staff Correspondent
Activists of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee yesterday reaffirmed that the people would bring the war criminals of 1971 to justice someday although the successive governments has failed to try them.They were speaking at a reception ceremony for the judges of Gono Adalat (people's court), a committee formed in 1992 to try the war criminals. The Nirmul Committee accorded the reception to the judges at the WVA auditorium in the city, marking 12 years of movement for trial of the war criminals. Seven out of 11 judges of Gono Adalat were honoured with floral tributes, books and artworks. "Our movement is against fanaticism, sectarianism and distortion of history, and to help realise the dream of Bangladesh," said writer Syed Shamsul Huq. It's a matter of shame that the governments have not accepted the Gono Adalat verdict on war criminals, said Prof. Borhanuddin Khan Jahangir. The successive governments have belittled the image of the country as an instance where killers can go unpunished, he said. "We cannot establish a just society unless the killings of human beings are tried under the laws of the land," Prof. Jahangir said. He alleged that the anti-liberation forces were resurfacing under the patronage of the government. Immunity for the offenders has led to the rise in crimes since the independence, said Barrister Shafiq Ahmed, one of the Gono Adalat judges. He called for execution of the verdict of Gono Adalat as there are ample evidences of war crimes against those sentenced by it. Gono Adalat judges Prof. Kabir Chowdhury, journalist Foyez Ahmed, Barrister Shawkat Ali Khan, Tagore song exponent Kalim Sharafi and language movement activist Gaziul Huq were present. Acting Chairperson of Nirmul Committee writer Shahriar Kabir presided over the ceremony.
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