Taramon Bibi, the only female Bir Protik (Symbol of Bravery) of the country, who hails from Kurigram, told ,“I never heard that Haji Khoyeruddin was a razakar. He was a good person.”
Imran’s father Matiur Rahman is a local senior journalist and also known as a pro-liberation personality.
Imran has been acting as the coordinator of the Shahbagh movement that began on Feb 5 when the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdul Quader Molla to life in jail for crimes against humanity during 1971 Liberation War.
Kurigram freedom fighters reject claim that Ganajagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran’s family was against independence.
Freedom fighters of Kurigram, the place from where Shahbagh Ganajagaran Mancha spokesperson Imran H Sarkar hails rejected the claim made by a quarter that his family was anti-liberation.BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s Adviser Shamsuzzaman Dudu in a talk-show of private television channel recently claimed that Imran’s grandfather Haji Khoyeruddin was a razakar, literally volunteer who collaborated with the Pakistan army during Bangladesh's Liberation War, and his family was supporter of the Muslim League.
The statement triggered debates, particularly in the social networking media.
Kurigarm’s Rajibpur upazila Freedom Fighters’ Commander Abdul Hai Sarkar said the claim aims to make the movement, initiated by the young generation from Shahbagh demanding death penalty for all war criminals, controversial.
“The people of Kurigram have been dumbfounded by such falsehood,” he said.
The agitators think the sentence for Molla was ‘too lenient’ compared to the crimes he had committed, and demanded death penalty for all war criminals. Later their demands included a ban on Jamaat.The Shahbagh protest, which spread to every nook and cranny of the country with the participation of people from all walks of life, is termed by the media as the ‘second liberation war’.
Shahbagh Ganajagaran Mancha claimed on several occasions that anti-liberation forces started slandering the movement using social networking sites and a section of the media in an effort to make it controversial.
Freedom Fighters’ Commander Hai Sarkar said Pakistani military did not dare to reach Rajibpur area surround by the Brahmaputra river. “Rajibpur was known as (Pak army)-free area. Only one combat happened between the freedom fighters and the Pakistani army in Kodalkati (in Rajibpur).”
Rajibpur upazila council Chairman Akbor Hossain Hiru said: “Imran is my neighbour. I know them from my childhood. Imran’s grandfather Haji Khoyeruddin was an honest person. He was as an organiser during the Liberation War.”
“Since it was a free area, Pakistani army could not come here… The number of razakar was limited,” he said. Mentioning that there were only two razakars – Abdul Quader of Mohonganj and Moulvi Abdul Aziz of Char Rajibpur – in the area, Hiru said: “They used to report to the local freedom fighters’ camp everyday.”Kurigram’s Chilmari upazila council Chairman Shawkat Ali Sarkar Birbikram supported the version of Hiru.Rajibpur’s Baliamari resident Md Shahbuddin, a freedom fighter and President of Kurigram unit of Conscious Citizens' Committee, said: “So far I know Haji Khoyeruddin and his family were pro-liberation during and after the war.”
Imran’s father said a quarter is slandering him, his father and the family. “I was never with the Muslim League. My father was also not a member of the Muslim League.”
Muslim League stood against the Bengali people’s struggles for independence. BD News24.com
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