7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

1/21

CENTER FOR BANGLADESH GENOCIDE RESEARCH

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

2/21

Maulana

Matiur

Rahman

Nizami

MAULANA MATIUR RAHMAN NIZAMI of Pabna district in the north

west

of

Bangladesh,

is

currently the secretary general and leader

of

the

parliamentary party of the Jamaat-e-Islami.

Nizami carried out a wide range

of

activities against the war

of

independence

in 1971. At the time he was president of Jamaat's youth front, the Islami Chattra

Sangha (ICS, or Islamic

S t ~ d e n t ' s

Organisation). Under his direct supervision, and

leadership, the Al-Badr force was set-up to eliminate freedom fighters . Nizami

was the commander-in-chief

of

the Al-Badrs.

The principal aim of

the Al-Badr, as a para-military force auxiliary to the

Pakistan army, was to tum the Bangalee people into a populace, which would

believe in Pakistan and the Islamic philosophy

of

life from a cultural and political

viewpoint.

Leaders

of

the Al-Badr drew-up the blue-print for the murder of hundreds

of

Bangalee intellectuals across the country. On their orders, hundreds

of

such

prominent men and women

of

letter and crafts were murdered throughout

Bangladesh including Dhaka. Horrifying tales

of

these killings by the Al-Badr

under Nizami' s command have been published in many newspapers and journals

at home and abroad.

Nizami exhorted his followers through speeches as well as articles in

newspapers. In one such article in the party mouth-piece daily

Sangram

he wrote,

"The day is not far away when the young men of Al-Badr, side by side with the

armed forces, will defeat the Hindu force (enemies) and raise the

i ~ t o r i o u s

banner

of

Islam all o v ~ r the world, after the destroying the existence of India" (source:

Daily

Sangram Nov.

14, 1971).

On

~ p r i l

12, 1971, Nizami joined Azam and other leading collaborators such

as Khan A Sabur etc.,

to

lead a procession in Dhaka

to

declare support for

Pakistan. The processiOn, under the banner of the "Peace Committee", ended with

a special prayer for the survival of Pakistan (Daily

Sang ram

April 13, 1971).

In

Jessore south-west

of

Dhaka, Nizami addressed para-military troops at the

district headquarters of the Razakar force, and said,

In

this hour of national crisis,

it is the duty of every Razakar to carry out his national duty to eliminate those who

are engaged in war against Pakistan and Islam" (Daily Sangram Sept 15, 1971).

People in Nizami's home district

of

Pabna have brought allegations

of

direct

and indirect involvement in killings, rape, arson, looting etc.

fvt M

l

:Jlt L l l

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

3/21

One such person is Aminul Islam Dablu of Brishlika village under the Bera

police station (in Bangladesh, all administrative units below the level of districts

are organised under a police station, hence all sub-districts are called Thana or

PS). Dablu told the Commission that his father M Sohrab Ali was killed

on

the

orders of Nizami. Dablu further said other people of the area, including Profulla

Pramanik, Bhadu Pramanik, Manu Pramanik and Shashthi Pramanik were killed

on Nizami' s orders. He said there were several eyewitnesses to those killings.

Abdul Quddus, a freedom fighter from Madhabpur village in Pabna, once

spent two weeks in an Al-Badr camp after being arrested. He witnessed plans

being discussed and drawn-up by the Al-Badr men under supervision

of

Nizami, to

carry out killings, arson, rape etc.

On Nov 26, a Razakar commander named Sattar guided Pakistani troops

to

the Dhulaupara village where 30 freedom fighters were subsequently killed.

According to Quddus, Sattar carried out his activities under Nizami's orders.

Quddus told the Commission he was able to attend a secret gathering of Al

Badr, which was also attended by Nizami who gave instructions about elimination

of freedom fighters. In that meeting, houses of A wami League supporters and

possible b ~ s e s and safe-houses being used by freedom fighters were identified.

Quddus said, Nizami gave orders to finish off Awami League supporters and

destroy bases of the freedom fighters.

The

day after the meeting, Al-Badr f o r e ~ in cooperation with Razakars,

surrounded the village of Brishlika and burnt it to the ground. Quddus said Nizami

himself bayoneted to death one Bateswar Shaha in Madhabpur village, situated

under Sathia PS, which is now part of the parliamentary constituency ~ h e r e

Nizami won a seat in 1991 with a slender majority.

Similar allegations against Nizami was brought by M Shahjahan Ali of

Madhabpur village. Ali was captured

by

Razakars along with several other

freedom fighters. The Razakars then proceeded to torture the prisoners with

bayonets, finally using long knives to slit their throats. Twelve freedom fighters

were slaughtered in that manner, but Ali miraculously survived, although he has a

deep scar along his throat and is permanently paralysed.

Ali said one prisoner was burnt alive after being doused with petrol. He said

all these killings of prisoners were carried out on Nizami's order.

Mt-11 Jnt.

L

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

4/21

Matiur Rahman Nizami (Motiya Dalal)

he chiefofoperations

of he Al-Badr (Jamati

death

squad)

forces,

Matiur Rahama

n Nizami is responsible for the

murder

of

housands

of

Be

ngalis involved in

or connected

to

the war of independence. He was also personally involved

in

murder

of

hundreds

of

Hindus and

confiscation of

their

asse

ts

and

properties.

By

confiscation

and

extortion

oflarge

mount of money, jewelry and assets from the wealthy

.,t;fi1.,

Hindu

Bengalis, Nizami

became

a millionaire. D

uring the

i : f i ' ~ ~ ' " ( Sheikh

Mujib

government

(1971-75) Nizam i

hid himself

from public life and engaged himself, like a dormant mice, in

conspir

acy with

his

fellow

Razakar pee

rs lo

overthrow the

Sheikh Mujib

government.

In

i976,

ns

a

part ofGen

Zi

a's Razakar

rehabilitation

project,

Nizami

reasserted himself

and

became

active as a

2IC under

th

e wings ofl1is

notorious master Go

lam

Azam as Zia

conferred Go

l

am

Bangladeshi citizenship

revoked by the Sheikh

Mujib government. Ni11am i is presently

th

e chiefof Jamat-e-lslam. Besides his

involvement in assassination,

murder, extort

ion and confiscation, Nizami is

also committed to es

tablish

Jamati

ideological

hegemoni (a Maudoodi vers

ion

of

Islamic fundamentalism tinged with

Ma o

i

st

militant flair) to perpetuate the

Islamic fundamentalism

in Bangl

adesh

.

Since

1976,

thanks

to

the

political

backing of

the

so-called freedom fighter Gen Zia

and

financial

generosity

of

the

I

slamic countries

like

Saudi

Arab, Iran and Libya, Nizami and his

gang

invested

millions of dollars to

open

hundreds of Islamic kindergartens around tl1e

country. The

syllabi

and curricula

of

th ose kindergartens are based on the

precepts of Maudoodi, the spi ritual

guru

of Jamat-e-Islam .

This network

of

schools

enabled

Jamat-e-Islam

to

sustain a huge number of heir cadres

as

emp

l

oyees

of

tl10se

sc

hools.

From

organizational

point

of

view,

those schools

are

a big

su

ccess

for

Jamat-e-Islam: it

secured

them a sustaining

source of

income (education is the most thriving business in Bangladeshi cities) and

em p

l

oyment for

its

cadres

in

educatio

n industry.

But

intellectually those

schools cripple its st ud

ents

forever

as

th

ey

teach pre

Copern

ican

/P

tolemic

wo

rld views, orient th

em

to alien Arabic culture and

emo

tionally i

nves

t them

wi t

h jejune Islamic

se n

ti

ments. Jamal's

goal

to

render

in t

ellect

ual bankruptcy

is not confined to

pre

schoo

l stage only.

Nizami

successfully

expanded

its

mission

to

the tertiary level as well. Nizami's wife founded an English medium

college in

the most aristocratic reside

nti

al area

in

Dhaka

city.

The

college

boasts

of having international educational standard

as

its name indicates

Manarat

ln t

e

rnationa

l College". The off-springs of the

Muslim

Bangladeshi eli tes

swarm

into

that so-called English m

ed ium

college.

Ma

narat

is

an English

medium

college in the limited

sense that

it disseminates its knowledge in

Eng

li

sh

language.

But wha

t

constitutes

its

episte

mological

corp

us?

Koran

and all forms

of Arabic medieval precepts . The gradu

ates

from Manarat college

are

apparent

ly smart

(as the

definition of sm

art

in Bangladesh means ability to

speak trash

in

En

glish)

but

intellectually a

nd attitudinally

medieval: perfect

el

ements for Islamic fundamentalism. Po

liti

ca

lly Gol

am

Azams

and

Mainucldins are feared monsters, but cultu

ra

lly Nizami's and Said 's are more

corrosive a

and

th

eir impact on

society

far reac

hi

ng.

Some

facts

about

Nizami's

criminal past

:

t.

D u ~ n ~ th

e liberation war in

Jessore,

Nizami

addressed paramilitary

troops at

the

distract headquarters

of he

Razakar force, and sa id, "In

this hour

of

national

crisis, it

is

the duty of every

Razakar

to carry out his

national duty

to

eliminate

those

who

are en

gaged

in

war

against

Pakistan and Islam'

(Daily

Sangram, Sep

t 15, 1971).

2. o p l e m N1zamt's home distract ol l:'abna have,

brought

allegation

and_

mdirect

involvement in killings, rape,

arson,

looting etc. One suc

Ammul

I

slam

Dablu of Brishlika village. According

to Dab

lu his fathe

Sohrab Ali ~ a s k i l ~ e d on the orders of Ni

za

mi. Dablu

furth

er said oth

of the ar

ea, mcludmg

Profulla P

ra m

anik,

Bhadu Pramanik

Manu

Pra

and

Sh

washati

Pr

ama

n.

k were

killed

on Nizam

i

's orders. He

said

the

several eyewitnesses to

those

killings.

J.

Abdul Quddus:

a freedom fighter from

Madhabpur

village

in

Pabn

s ~ e n t

two weeks m an Al-Badr

camp as their

captive. He

witnessed

p

di

scussed and drawn-up by th

e Al-Badr

men under

supervisi

on

of Ni

carry out killings, arson, rape etc.

4. On

Nov

26, a

Razakar commander named

Sattnr

gu

ided

Pakistani

the h ~ l a u p a r a vill

age where

JO freedom fighters were subsequently

According

to Sattar

carri

ed

out

his act

ivit ies

under Nizami

's

Q ~ d d u . s also said

he

was

a

bl

e to

attend

a

secret gathering of Al-Badr

N1zarm

~ e s 1 d e d

and gave n s t ~ u c t i o n s

abou

t elimination of freedom

that

m

ee

ti_ng, h

ouses of

Awam1 League s

upporters

and

possib

le

bases

h

ouses bemg used by freedom

fighters

were

identified. Qud

dus

said

N

gave or

de

rs

to

finish

off

Awami League

supporters and destroy bases

freedom

fighters.

The day

after the meeting, Al-Badr forces in

cooper

Razakars

,

surrou

n

ded the

village of Brishlika

and burnt it to the grou

5. Quddus said Nizami himself bayoneted to

death one

Bateswar

Sah

M a ~ h a b p u r

vi

lla

ge, s

ituated under Sat

h

ia

PS, which

is

n

ow

part

of he

par ia?1entary constituency

where

Nizami won a seat in 1991

with

a s

ma.ionty.

6. In

Pabna Nizami led the

killing

of

a

young

freedom fighter

Latif an

group. Latif was only

19

years

old and a first

year

student of

Pabna Ed

college. Latifs

small r o ~ p was capt

u

red

by

the

Pakistani

occupat

ion

front

m h a ~ at

D.1,ml.mn.

They were

handed

over

to

Nizami's

ga

n

e x e c ~ l l o n .

N1

zam

1s li

eutenants

publicly slew

Latifs co

-fighters

with

speciall_y

used

for

slaughtering

bulls for sacrifice

(during Islamic

festiv

k o r b ~ n ~ )

as a

part

of

Islamic

ritual.

TI1e bastards in

Ni

zami's group

ce

the killmg of he

captured

freed?m

f i g h t e ~ w i ~ canniba

li

stic

zeal.

Th

Latifs

y e s , c ~ o p p e d offh15

gemtaha

and tied his dead body on a stick

Shanth1a.

Latifs father

Sufian

Paramanik

is

an witness

to

his

son's

bru

murder

and

the razakars' ecstatic outburs t of pleasure in killing the b

of t

he

soil.

Latifs brother Sha

h

jahan

, a freedom

fighter

himself,

nearly

same

fate.

slaughter

ing

Shahjahan, along with his co

-fighters,

in

manner,

N1

zam's peop

le

left him

taking

him for dead. But Shahjahan w

hard r e e d o m

fighter.

The

slayer's knife

could not

take his life.

Dead

ly

Shah

Jahan l

ay

on

ground

for

hours.

Foxes

smelled

at him,

dogs bit

h im

Fortunately

his

relatives

came

by

before

it was too late

and saved hi

s

li

Nizami's knife could

not take

Shahj

ahan's

life, but took away his vocal

7.

Shahjaban

Ali also said one

prisoner

was burnt alive after being

dou

petro

l.

He

s

aid

all

those

killings of

prisoners were carried

out on Nizam

order.

Verifiable list of people killed by Nizami and his gangs:

M

SohrabAli

Monu

Pramanik

Latif

Profulla

Pramanik

Shwasha

ti

Pramanik

JO freedom fighters in

Latifs group

Bhadu

Pram

Bateswar Sa

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

5/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

6/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

7/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

8/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

9/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

10/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

11/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

12/21

"lli11il'OllV fi( Ir

~ ~ ~

9ll i t N s ~ ~

~ - ~ ~ ~ t 9

l n ' S 1

~

~ 9 f f i l c t f l l l i l ' l l C ~ \ i m t ~ 14 f ~

i f f i 1 1 4 ~ ? i ~ ~

ll"t"frn,

) 8 ~ ~ 1 - f . i f ~ . , ~

~ ' 1 i P I ~

~ ~ ~ ~

~

"ll'f'lrCOf

l1t'1m

~

~ ~ "" Nli1 ~ 1

~

< u l ~ ~ ~ ' 1

1

~ r a

~ ~ r n

1 1 ~ 1 1 1 " 1 1 ' \ ~ m

~ t:.lf_

Aul

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

13/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

14/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

15/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

16/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

17/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

18/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

19/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

20/21

7/26/2019 563. - CBGR

21/21

J.J,J z:

p . ~

-r-iJf'f'

1r1r):,mT (jl

1

r{Jf\ '-71r.i7

1 ~ r ~ F P ( ' , , f ? f

' r " ' ? ; ' Y ) f 1 ? f ~ )

y;I',. Y-r--4

lef:J

(. / ) -

'1f

P 1 ' _ f ) ' ) ~ J (t. 7

T

a " " ; t ? ~ f - ; 7 1 " ' 1 / / ' ' f ~ t r r f ' Y r ' l ' r - . ; , 7 1 1 ( ) 7 '

/' r f 7 / . < ( ' r r ( ) . / ' ) - f i . ~

'")I

r< 7 .1Z l *,,Y'e fr ;f 1 7 . 1 ) ? , , R ) ~ e i r

,t jA : /.(r-rtf?

:,r>))7'1 (;t'(r-?CIFf'1J/

.1if}ri;r1;J/.rm;n(,rJ_,q)ji. '1;

) i l ' f " ' . t . t 1 - J I

A - r 1 . 1 ~ f ' l ' p . r i ' ~ / P t f

~ r = ~ 1 r > 1 . 1 ~ J ~ J . f ' ' / . i r o ( r - f v 1 r

J )Yf'-7- .

,A)J:zr{,,.

~ " ' ~ ;p r i t P ~ 1 1 h r . : " ' i f

1

II )7 ~ ) f"v;r-::' ;f'f 1 1 f l t : " J ' 1 " ? r 1 ? - / ~ t + 1 - : { l , . : . . ) l . ( J ' )

:{'lr/'.t 'IJ'

I Y 7 1 f . f ~ : ~ w w

5.Z

QA,(

- k ; r P " l f f " Y ' 1 / ' 7 r 1 ~ f ? % f r f j 1 t 1 { - '

.

< . ~ r f ? ) '

r

(

fJ

J ?/ # ' ) ' ) l ) ; . r ,

1 , l ? : ; J ? ~

)) -':.'r:if'

-b

r f e f ( ) ; / J ~ ) J 7 . 7 / H f , , . , r f " i . - " ~ 7 n J ? 1 l ' - 7 Y

: ) 7 1 f 1 ' ~ ' 7 ' u1 ;-:{"

0

1