In a move that spits on the graves of three million martyrs and the honour of hundreds of thousands of raped and tortured women, the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government has silently presided over the full political rehabilitation of one of the most notorious Al-Badr commanders of 1971: ATM Azharul Islam.
On Saturday, November 29, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami officially swore in ATM Azharโthe former commander of the Rangpur Al-Badr death squadโas its Nayeb-e-Ameer (Deputy Chief). Less than six months after a highly controversial Supreme Court verdict acquitted him of all charges of genocide, murder, rape, and torture committed during the Liberation War, the man once sentenced to death for crimes against humanity now stands second only to Ameer Shafiqur Rahman in the hierarchy of the countryโs largest Islamist party.
This is not justice. This is the systematic undoing of the sacrifices of 1971.
From Death Row to Deputy Chief in Six Months
Let the timeline speak for itself:
– December 30, 2014: The International Crimes Tribunal sentences ATM Azhar to death for six charges of crimes against humanity in Rangpur, including leading the massacre of intellectuals, abduction and murder of Hindus, and systematic rape.
– October 31, 2019: The Appellate Division upholds the death sentence.
– August 5, 2024: Sheikh Hasina falls. Jamaat immediately demands Azharโs release.
– May 27, 2025: A new seven-judge bench of the Appellate Division, in an unprecedented move, overturns both previous verdicts, acquits him on all counts, and declares the earlier trials a โgross miscarriage of justice.โ
– May 28, 2025: Azhar walks free after 13 years, garlanded by Jamaat leaders.
– November 29, 2025: He takes the oath as Nayeb-e-Ameer.
No other acquitted 1971 war criminal has been elevated so rapidly to the number-two position in Jamaatโs national leadership. The message is unmistakable: under the Yunus regime, collaboration with Pakistani occupation forces is no longer a stainโit is a qualification.
Outrageous Revisionism in Broad Daylight
If Azharโs rehabilitation were merely procedural, it would already be shameful. But he has gone furtherโopenly insulting the very idea of Bangladeshโs independence.
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Speaking at a Jamaat rally in Mohammadpur on November 28, the newly minted Nayeb-e-Ameer declared:
โPolitical opponents call Jamaat anti-independence and anti-Liberation War. In reality, Jamaat is the only force that truly stands for independenceโฆ Proof? Despite all persecution, Jamaat leaders never fled the country.โ
He then sneered at Sheikh Hasina (โShe who boasted โSheikhโs daughter does not fleeโ fled herselfโ) and proclaimed: โIslam is the only guarantee of this countryโs independence, sovereignty, democracy, and rule of law.โ
These are not the words of a reformed man seeking reconciliation. These are the words of an unrepentant collaborator who still believes Pakistan should have won in 1971.
Every Bengali who lost a father, mother, brother, or sister to Al-Badr bullets in Rangpur knows exactly what Azharโs โindependenceโ means: independence from Bangladesh itself.
The Yunus Regimeโs Complicity
The interim government has not uttered a single word of protest. No statement of concern. No condemnation of Jamaatโs decision. No reassurance to the millions of families of martyrs that their sacrifice is still honoured.
Worse, key institutions appear captured:
– The judiciary that acquitted Azhar did so under a chief justice appointed after August 5.ย
– The prosecutor who once defended Jamaat leaders now heads the International Crimes Tribunal that is supposed to try 1971 crimes.
– Law Adviser Asif Nazrul publicly celebrated Azharโs acquittal as a triumph of the โJuly Revolution.โ
This is not neutrality. This is active collaboration with forces that wanted Bangladesh strangled at birth.
The Promise of Future Justice
Let no one be under any illusion: the current whitewashing will not stand.
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The people of Bangladeshโthe same students, workers, and ordinary citizens who overthrew fascist rule in August 2024โhave not forgotten 1971. When a truly representative government returns through free and fair elections, the following must happen:
1. A new, independent International Crimes Tribunalโfree from Jamaat influenceโwill be established.ย
2. The politically motivated 2025 acquittal of ATM Azharul Islam will be declared null and void.
3. A retrial, conducted with full transparency and in strict accordance with international standards, will be held.
4. If found guilty againโas the evidence overwhelmingly suggests he will beโATM Azharul Islam will face the same punishment originally handed down: death by hanging.
Bangladesh did not fight a nine-month war, did not sacrifice three million lives, and did not endure the rape of two hundred thousand women just to watch Al-Badr commanders be garlanded as national leaders in 2025.
The rope that Azhar joked about replacing with flowers will one day return to its rightful placeโnot as an instrument of vengeance, but as the final act of justice for a nation that refuses to forget.
The martyrs are watching. History is watching. And the future Bangladeshโthe real Bangladesh of Sheikh Russel, of the burned villages of Rangpur, of the mass graves we still discoverโwill not forgive this betrayal.
ATM Azhar may wear the deputy chiefโs crown today.
Tomorrow, the people will ensure he wears the condemned manโs noose.
Because 1971 is not negotiable.
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