After the Supreme Court’s acquittal of ATM Azharul Islam of crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, the Jamaat-e-Islami leader walked free out of jail on Wednesday. He was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in 2014. He was released around 9.30 am after completing the process at the Dhaka Central Jail in Keraniganj. Islam was also brought to the Bangladesh Medical University for a checkup before release.
Who Is ATM Azharul Islam?
The 73-year-old ATM Azharul Islam was born in Lohanipara village in Badarganj, Rangpur district. He was the commander of the Al-Badr militia during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and supported the Pakistan Army in suppressing the independence movement. He was later convicted of leading the Jharuarbeel massacre in April 1971, during which 1,256 innocent civilians were brutally killed and 13 women were raped in the Rangpur division of northern Bangladesh. Islam was sentenced to death on three counts and received imprisonment on two additional counts for crimes against humanity. In October 2019, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld his death sentence, confirming the earlier verdict against him.
However, in February this year, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh allowed Azharul to file a fresh appeal to challenge the verdict. And now the same Appellate Division, which upheld the conviction and death sentence, has acquitted the Jamaat-e-Islami terrorist on Tuesday (27th May). His counsel, Gazi MH Tamim, remarked, “Since this case came to the appeal stage from a review, there is no higher court in Bangladesh or any international forum beyond this.”
What Happened In 1971?
On April 16, 1971, ATM Azharul Islam, along with members of the Pakistani army and Jamaat-e-Islami, attacked Moksedpur village. During the raid, unarmed civilians were killed, homes were looted, and many were set on fire. The following day, April 17, he led systematic attacks on Hindu-majority villages near Jharuarbeel, resulting in the brutal killing of over 1,200 people. These attacks involved large-scale abduction, arson, murder, and genocide. On April 30, 1971, Islam and Pakistani forces raided Rangpur’s Carmichael College, abducting four Hindu professors and the wife of one of them—all five victims were later murdered. Between March and December 1971, Islam also ran a so-called “rape camp” in Rangpur, where he abducted, confined, tortured, and repeatedly raped several women, including a victim identified as M.K.
