September 10, 2016
India has backed the judicial process under the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh to address the pending issue of justice for war crimes.
India has backed Bangladesh’s efforts to prosecute those behind the 1971 East Pakistan genocide.
This move comes after Bangladesh hanged to death Mir Quasem Ali, 63, a leading financier of the Bangladesh’s Jamaat-e-Islami. He was found guilty of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) which was set up in 2009 to prosecute those involved in the 1971 East Pakistan genocide. The tribunal has convicted over a dozen individuals including nine high-profile leaders of the Jamaat. At least five of them have been hanged, with every execution seeing a frenzy of rioting and violence orchestrated by the Jamaat.
Pakistan army, which was directly involved in the genocide that resulted in the death of millions of innocent civilians, has come out strongly in protest. The country’s parliament even passed a resolution condemning the ICT trials. This is understandable as at least one of the convicted criminals is said to be hiding in that country. Moreover, many other Pakistani armed forces personnel, who directly took part in the genocide, are today in Pakistan. Bangladesh has been unable to put them on trial.
With India-Pakistan relations deteriorating in the recent past New Delhi has finally come out in support of the ICT.
Although it referred to the ICT trials as an internal matter of Bangladesh, the statement issued by a foreign ministry spokesperson said: “India was supportive of a judicial process under the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) of Bangladesh to address the pending issue of justice for war crimes...”
For more information on Bangladesh ICT trials, worldwide Islamist support to Jamaat-e-Islami convicts and terror dynamics behind these developments see this piece by Ramananda Sengupta, a veteran security affairs expert.
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