Perhaps never before in the history of Bangladesh the power of silence and the silent majority were as powerful as of now. The nation, honouring the call of the warriors of Shahbagh stood in silence on February 12 to press home their demand for the punishment of the perpetrators of 1971 for the crimes they committed in 1971 when the nation was being liberated from the occupation forces of Pakistan. The message was head across the nation. The crimes were mostly committed by the leadership and members of the Jamaat-e-Islami, a party that has gained notoriety in the sub-continent for preaching fundamentalism and Wahabi brand of Islam and being the incubator of promoting militancy in the name of Islam. When the Pakistan army cracked down on the night of March 25-26, 1971 the Jamaat leadership were a willing partner in crimes against humanity later joined by the leaderships of Muslim League, PDP and Nizami Islami, all of which are now virtually defunct. Their collective crimes included being partners with the Pakistan army in committing genocide, rape, arson, loot and selective killing. The victims were mostly innocent civilians, their only ‘crime’ was that they supported the cause of an independent Bangalee nation. Immediately after the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971 the first government led by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib banned all these political parties and constitutionally prohibited the use of religion in the name of politics. The government enacted a Collaborators Act of 1972 to try those involved in these crimes and before the process could be completed he along with his family members were brutally murdered on August 15, 1975. Subsequently when General Zia, the first military ruler of the country, seized power from Khondkar Mushtaque, he scrapped the Collaborators Act of 1972 on December 31, 1975 and let loose all those who were in police custody under this Act and all 752 convicts. In 1973, the then government enacted the 1973 International Crimes (Tribunal) Act in July and gave it a constitutional protection.

From 1975 to 2008 no government thought it necessary to try those involved in the crimes against humanity in 1971. Moreover, General Zia, for his petty political gains, lifted the ban on Jamaat and other religion-based parties and took them on board when he floated his own political party BNP. To the surprise of everyone he even appointed Shah Azizur Rahman as the Prime Minister of Bangladesh on April 15, 1979 and he served in that capacity till March 24, 1982. Shah Aziz was a former Muslim League leader who had the audacity to lead a Pakistani delegation to the United Nations in November of 1971 to speak for Pakistan and tell the world that no genocide was ever committed in Bangladesh by the Pakistan army in 1971. Besides Shah Aziz, Abdul Alim, one of the alleged butchers of Joypurhat, and Moulana Mannan, one who was allegedly involved in the killing of Dr Alim Chowdhury, were included in the cabinet of Zia. Though the law was there, none of those involved in the crimes of 1971 were brought to justice and all governments from 1975 onwards till 1991 rewarded many of them for their political gains. Ghulam Azam, the Amir of Jamaat in 1971 fled the country before the surrender of Pakistan army and till 1977 was busy campaigning in the Arab world against Bangladesh. He even collected a big fund from the sympathizers of Jamaat for the ‘reunification’ of Pakistan. Eventually he was allowed to return to Bangladesh in 1978 with a Pakistani passport by Zia and he subsequently assumed the leadership of Jamaat during the rule of his widow Begum Zia in 1991. In the election of 1991 BNP formed an undeclared alliance with Jamaat against the Awami League and won the election to form the government. This further bolstered the courage of Jamaat which came back into the mainstream politics of the country with full force and ample resources.

It was expected that when Awami League formed the government in 1996, the perpetrators of 1971 will be tried, but that did not happen. The party was out of power for 21 years and had to put the house in order and above all arrange for the trials of the killers of Bangabandhu and his family, most of whom were rewarded by Zia with diplomatic assignments. Though these killers could have been tried in a special tribunal, the government of Sheikh Hasina tried them in a normal trial court. But before she could finish the process, her term ended in 2001 and the trial was stalled by her successor Begum Zia. The trial was again resumed in 2009 when Sheikh Hasina returned to power and those found guilty in the High Court and sentenced to death were hanged after the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the lower courts. In 2010, her government began the process of trying the perpetrators of 1971 in two specially constituted tribunals as promised in the election manifesto of Awami League. Both BNP and Jamaat tried their best to arouse controversies against the trial. Jamaat raised millions of dollars to campaign internationally against the trial but the government with the public support went ahead with the process. In the first phase, nine Jamaat and two BNP accused are facing trial, out of which former Jamaat leader Abul Kalam Azad, also known as Bachchu Razakar, was sentenced to death in absentia, while to the amazement of the nation, Quader Mollah, commonly known as the ‘Butcher of Mirpur’, was sentenced to life and 30 years of imprisonment. Mollah was found guilty by the Tribunal of committing genocide and rape and supervising mass killing. Mollah could not hide his satisfaction once the verdict was pronounced. He waved the V-sign with a big grin on his face. He felt victorious. This not only stunned everyone demanding the trial of these perpetrators of 1971 for last 42 years but made the entire nation angry that ignited the present Shahbagh and countrywide uprising.

The Shahbagh uprising itself surprised the nation and the organisers in many different ways. Firstly, the uprising was ignited by a small number of young bloggers and social network users. The sent out a call using their online social network to their contacts to gather in front of the National Museum for a simple protest human chain on February 5, the day Quader Mollah’s verdict was pronounced. They never realised that the call for a simple protest human chain would turn out to be a human sea in a few hours. Hundreds turned to thousands and thousands turned to tens of thousands. Hours turned to days and days to week and more. A gathering that was scheduled to last for a couple of hours, now is in its eleventh day (Friday). They all came in groups and processions or as individuals. They came from schools, colleges and universities, offices and business houses. Mothers came with their newborn babies while octogenarian grandparents came holding the hand of their young grandchild. The musicians carried their guitars and other musical instruments. Women who would never come to such a gathering came out in thousands. Politicians, professionals, the retired, the young and old all came in large numbers. The all chanted loudly in chorus ‘death to the war criminals.’ Their call could be heard from one end of the country to another. Thanks to the media, the movement spread beyond the frontiers of the nation. From Tokyo to Toronto or Doha to DC, wherever Bangladeshis live everyone demanded that the criminals of 1971 should walk the gallows. They waged war against the nation, for whose birth three millions sacrificed their lives. They raped and massacred their innocent people. That they should be condemned to death was their collective decision and they demanded so from the judiciary. They say justice is blind but those dispensing justice should not be. They demanded the government should plug all the holes in the law that gives undue protection to the criminals of 1971. Many of those gathered at Shahbagh square for last eleven days are not strictly hardcore political loyalists. They are the silent majority, who love their country and many of their loved ones sacrificed their life for it. These are the same silent majority who make the difference in our national politics but the politicians never realise their power. Some love to describe the gathering at Shahbagh as organised chaos, while others would like to call it most disciplined congregation of young and the old, for a common cause.

The good thing about all these is that the government heard the voice of the nation and has already taken measures to plug all the holes in the ICT Acts and ensure that everyone gets what he deserves. Now there is no turning back. The silent majority has spoken. They spoke in silence and on top of their voice, the chanted ‘death to Razakars,’ the killers and rapists of 1971. It is now or never. Leonardo da Vinci, the great Italian painter said, “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.” Now the silent majority is the authority. They have spoken in silence and also loudly. They matter and they need to be taken into account.

The writer is a former Vice-chancellor, Chittagong University.