Hindus' death angel

He had unleashed a reign of terror among the Hindus in Pirojpur. His atrocities had reached such a terrifying extent that he was feared as a "death angel" among the members of the minority community during the 1971 Liberation War.

In four separate incidents, war criminal Abdul Jabbar, then 39, led the Pakistani occupation army and his followers to kill the Hindus and forcefully convert them to Islam in Pirojpur.

He had not stopped just there.

By delivering spells of fiery speeches, he had incited his followers to loot houses of the Hindus there.

During trial, prosecution witnesses testified on Jabbar's personal war against the Hindus, and the International Crimes Tribunal-1 in its judgment yesterday said it had found his "genocidal intention" from those attacks and his inciting speeches had aimed at destroying the community.

Santosh Kumar Mitra, sixth prosecution witness in the case against the fugitive convict, yesterday told The Daily Star, "The Hindus feared him as if he were an angel of death."

The witness during the trial said Jabbar accompanied by Razakars had attacked their Angulkata village on October 6, 1971. He had woken up that morning by the sound of whistles blown by the Razakars, he added.

Eight families used to live in their house and the intruders had detained all the men on Jabbar's instruction. They looted jewellery, money and other valuables and tied Santosh and his father Surendra Nath Mitra with a rope, he further said.

As many as 37 people were detained and taken to the municipality office of Mathbaria that day.

Of them, seven including the victim's cousin Monindra Master were released and the rest were taken to an area near the sluice gate of Surjamoni village, the witness said.

Twenty-two people including his father and brother were shot dead later that day.

"The detainees were taken beside a canal one after another and shot dead from behind. My brother Foni Mitra and I were tied to each other and shot. My brother died on the spot and I was injured," said Santosh, who is still carrying marks of injury on his back and below his right chest.

The witness received primary treatment at his brother-in-law's pharmacy in Duatola Bazar and later went to the Sundarbans camp of freedom fighters to get further treatment.

Asked about his reaction to the verdict, a visibly frustrated Santosh just commented, "I have nothing to say."

Jabbar used to address the collaborators of the Pakistani invading army at different rallies in Pirojpur to incite them.

"Wealth and property of the Hindus are war booty and thus belong to the Muslims. If the Hindus want to live in this country, they will have to become Muslims," Shoebur Rahman Golder, first prosecution witness, quoted Jabbar as saying at a rally in Tushkhali on May 16, 1971.

The next day Jabbar along with 30-35 members of the Pakistani army had gone to the village.

He had asked the army to kill Sarda Kanto Paik, who was running for his life.

Paik had been shot dead on the spot.

About 360 houses of the village had also been looted before they were set on fire.

About eight to 10 days later, on Jabbar's instructions, Razakars forced 200 Hindus of Paikbari to convert to Islam.

"The Hindus were given Muslim names and forced to eat beef," the witness added.

Nineteenth prosecution witness Santosh Kumar Kharati said Razakars led by Jabbar attacked their Noli village on May 22, 1971.

"The accused [now a convict] shot dead my elder brother Sokha Nath Kharati," said the witness.

Kharati added, "Upon Jabbar's instruction, Razakars shot dead 11 people including Jitendra Nath Biswas, Ganesh Chandra Mistri, Nepal Chandra Mistri, Upendra Nath Mistri and Bosonto Haldar."

Another prosecution witness, Dilip Kumar Paik, said he and his father had been detained and given a proposal to convert to Islam or else they would be handed over to the Pakistani army.

"We gave silent consent to save our lives," said Kharati, who was along with around 150 to 200 Hindus of Phuljhuri village at that moment.

"Against our will, they forced us to recite kalma [one of Islam's pillars] and say prayers," he said, adding that the Hindus had also been given Muslim names.

"My father was named Kaiyum Khan, while I was named Delwar Hossain Khan," he said, adding that some days later, two to three Hindus were forced to eat beef, while others had rejected it.

All the witnesses testified before the tribunal that more than 500 houses, mostly belonging to the Hindus, were plundered and destroyed by Jabbar's men.

While delivering the judgment, the tribunal said, "It is well proved that accused Md Abdul Jabbar Engineer had direct complicity and substantially contributed and facilitated in the commission of such barbarous types of crimes and as such no punishment other than death will be equal to the said horrendous crimes for which the accused has been            found guilty beyond reasonable doubt."

The tribunal, however, took lenient view in the matter of awarding punishment to the accused, considering his old age.