Not concerned about the tribunal’s verdict; we wait for the Divine verdict/justice from Allah: Son of Prof Ghulam Azam

“Whatever the anticipated verdict of the tribunal [in my father’s case] will be, we are not concerned about it at all. We instead wait for the Divine verdict/justice from almighty Allah,” says Mr Amaan Azmi, son of Prof Ghulam Azam who is awaiting the verdict in the case against him for war crimes.

In an exclusive interview with RTNN, the son of Prof Ghulam Azam and an ex-Brigadier general in the Bangladesh army, Abdullah Amaan Azmi has also said, “Those who vowed to my father’s feet in 1996 for the sake of coming into power are the same people now staging this drama to falsely portray him as a war criminal.”

He says, “Since my father has been opposing anti-Islamic activities and policies of this government for moral/ideological reasons, they are harassing him in his old age [for political motivation].”

Amaan Azmi stated that those who associate his father with crimes against humanity are morally sick people who are falsely accusing his father.

The case against Prof Gulam Azam has been listed for pending verdict, expected within the coming days after the court hearing was completed last week.

Mr Azmi has said relatives visited his father on Sunday. They will be able to visit him again in 2 weeks time.

Mr Azami says, “A man has been known for spotless innocent character throughout 91 years of his life. But he is being accused of committing these heinous crimes of the lowest character. How could such a man get so low during only this specific period of 9 months? Are these accusations at all believable?”

Mr Azami stressed, “My father was an ordinary member of the 40 member peace committee. He preferred a united Pakistan. Apart from this he never gave any provocative speech or statement. He was never involved with any [war] planning.”

“You can realise from responses of the investigation officer that this trial is being staged in order to destroy the good character and reputation of this spotless honest political personality. The investigation officer replied to a question that he has not investigated whether Prof Gulam Azam was involved with any [war] planning. Please, now you tell me how could the investigator submit his report against my father accusing him as a main planner of 1971 war crimes? Those who were the Chairman or Secretary of the peace committee were never put on trial, but instead my father is put on trial. How can you call it fair justice?”

The ex-army officer stated, “The state prosecution has alleged that my father wrote a letter to order the killing of Siru Miah. But they have not produced any family member of Siru Miah as witness. Only a statement claiming existence of such a letter was taken as evidence. Why was this letter never shown in the court [if it exists at all]?”

When asked about whether his father is satisfied with the trial process, Mr Azami says, “My father is not satisfied with the trial at all. He made this clear before arrest saying to the TV media that the verdict has already been decided even before the trial. This trial is only a show-trial.”

Mr Azami says about the verdict, “We do not know whether we will get the fair justice or not. We should not comment about the verdict before it is delivered. We will appeal if the verdict goes against us.

“We have submitted a list of 2,393 witnesses to the court but the tribunal allowed us only 12. Out of them, only I was able to give witness. We used to present more than 1 witness on hearing days but the tribunal was unable to hear them. Some of our witnesses were arrested and harassed. We reapplied for another 12 witness, but it was refused. Outsiders also threatened against anyone giving witness for us.”