Quasem buried in Manikganj

Executed war criminal Mir Quasem Ali was buried at his Chala village in Manikganj's Harirampur early yesterday.

Quasem, chief of notorious Al-Badr Bahini in Chittagong in 1971, was hanged at Kashimpur Central Jail-2 at 10:30pm Saturday for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

Later, his body was taken to Manikganj under police protection, and Quasem's wife Khandakar Ayesha Khatun received the body around 2:45am, said Shajahan Sheikh, assistant superintendent of police of Manikganj Special Branch.

Quasem's two daughters and around 40 relatives were present at that time, he said.

He was buried after a namaz-e-janaza at his ancestral village around 3:30am, said our Manikganj correspondent, quoting Abdus Salam, a sub-inspector of Special Branch of Manikganj police.

Additional police were deployed in the village and its adjacent areas. Police did not allow people, including journalists, to enter the area. They also set up check posts on roads and link roads to beef up security in the area.

Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami, within half an hour of the execution, called an eight-hour hartal from 6:00am today, protesting what they said was the “killing of Quasem”.

On the other hand, different organisations, including Workers Party of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Jubo Moitri, expressed satisfaction with the execution of the 63-year-old Jamaat leader.

They also demanded the banning of Jamaat for its anti-liberation role and the confiscation of the convicted war criminals' properties.  

A staff correspondent from Chittagong adds, Jamaat could not hold the gayebana janaza of Quasem in Chittagong College's Parade Ground in the port city yesterday.

Soon after the execution of Quasem on Saturday night, Jamaat made an announcement of holding the janaza there. Chittagong College unit Chhatra League declared to resist it.  

Meer Mohammad Nurul Huda, officer-in-charge of Chawk Bazar Police Station, said BCL activists brought out a procession and held a rally in the area. But no activists of the Jamaat or its student body Islami Chhatra Shibir were found in the area.

Nurul Azim Rony, general secretary of BCL city unit, said Jamaat activists later tried to hold the janaza on a street of Hill View Residential Area. But on information, the BCL activists chased them there.