Sector Commanders Forum, Liberation 71, has deplored what they described alarming spike in efforts by Jamaat-e-Islami and its student arm Islami Chhatra Shibir to glorify the war criminals and undermine the war crimes through social media targeting university students.
“These lobbyists who spread propaganda in exchange of money also continuously spread false and fabricated campaigns to stop trials of war criminals and confuse the world's opinions,” said the organisation in a statement on Sunday.
The statement came following media exposure on a sudden surge in promoting content targeting former BUET students from a Facebook page inaugurated by a British lawyer who actively advocated for the impunity of a notorious war criminal from Jamaat.
The page was accused of promoting contents that SCF found derogatory for war heroes and only amplified by social media assets of Shibir to aggravate the ongoing deadlock on the leading engineering university, according to campus sources.
Throughout 2013, Jamaat and Shibir reportedly carried out a grisly spell of firebombing of buses trains, targeted killing of law enforcers and bloggers who were vocal of war crimes trials.
Moreover, the page reportedly described a war crimes trial driven by political vendetta and vilified former BUET students including former BUET student Tonmoy Ahmed, who had been stabbed reportedly by Shibir for his stance in demand of ending impunity of war criminals.
In reference to the presence of Michael Polak, the UK advocate, who, was hired by infamous war criminal Mir Quasem Ali, at the inaugural of the Facebook page, the organisation of war heroes, mentioned a renewed push has been marked to glorify those who aided the Pakistan army in carrying out crimes against humanity including genocide, rape, loot and systematic persecution in 1971, even five decades after independence.
In reference to targeted killing of free thinkers who were vocal for demanding war crimes trial including recent vilification anti-war crimes campaigner Tonmoy Ahmed, the statement also raised alarm over a systematic vilification of those students who joined anti-war crimes campaigners in demand of putting an end to the impunity of war criminals.
In the past, Polak, teamed up with other lobbyists including Toby Cadman and ran a campaign to deny justice to millions of family members of martyred heroes at the hands of Pakistan army and those local collaborators.
Such activity testified to a simple fact that several fronts including Shibir, the student arm of Jamaat, are still waging a campaign to deny war crimes and project war criminals innocent before students, a clear advocacy to promote wrong history targeting students,” said the statement.
Goes by the name Socchar, the page, operated from US, was inaugurated by Polak hired by family of Quasem Ali who earlier struck a million dollar deal with top lobbyists firms in US to shore up global support exploiting human rights ground to ensure impunity for war criminals.
Actively took part in carrying out genocide in 1971, Shibir, renamed from Chhatara Sangha and reborn in 1977, began acting with the ultimate objective to establish Islamic society countering secular spirit of the country. Self-style killing missions and cutting tendons of students who they deem rivals are a reported trademark of Shibir.
Pointing out errors on the posts, Tonmoy, who now acts as coordinator in Awami League web team and having 130 stitches all over his body, on a facebook post revealed “the flimsy allegations are levelled based on accounts of a former Shibir leader who was involved in plotting the assassination attempt against me”.
In association with another Jamaat hired lawyear Cadman, Polak was found issuing joint statements undermining war crimes and went on an overdrive to present their clients—dreaded war criminals—as victims. US-based Lemkin Institute for Genocide Prevention has recognised the killing of Bangladeshis during 1971 War of Independence as genocide.
Though banned on the campus, the activities of Shibir came to the fore after 24 students were captured reportedly for plotting subversive activities in a remote haor area.