The special tribunal will be judged according to the International Crime Act 1973.
"Strange world, you have made me a stranger to your ways"
Honorable Speaker,
the topic of discussion for the last few days has unfortunately been someone who is a recognized war-criminal, someone who has lost his Bangladeshi citizenship, the right to practice politics in this country, whose name is absent from the list of voters, who has been disenfranchised by the polity and who has forfeited all individual rights in this land. I do not have the words to protest or criticize the act of those who, so many years after the liberation war, have lifted one ponderous tome after another to advocate for an individual who has long been recognized as a war criminal and has long lost his right to practice politics. I can only quote the poet Shukanto and say "oh strange world, you have made me a stranger to your ways." We have been shocked, dumbstruck, hurt and pained. I wonder whether we actually are living in a free Bangladesh or whether the free Bangladesh has become the guise for an unfamiliar nation. Such queries plague my mind today.
There is much to say today, Honorable Speaker. However, to speak against such blatant advocacy for evil makes my own words seem frivolous. We are witnessing a shameful endeavor to defend a war-criminal. There is a saying "a little grief enervates, much grief makes one strong." My condition is similar. For today I see, standing in this parliament a party like the Jamaat, that was against the birth of this nation, fighting for their leader Golam Azam, who was a war criminal and I see another party, whose founder was himself a freedom fighter, soliciting for Golam Azam. When I look at the latter group, I see faces of those who have lost brothers, fathers and husbands in the war. When I see them rise in defence of a war criminal, I have no alternative but to choke my own emotions, to strengthen myself, Honorable Speaker.
Razakars were part of the Pakistani Forces:
Honorable Speaker,
You wanted to know whether the Razakars and Al-Badrs were an auxiliary force of the Pakistan armed forces. This query was raised yesterday. And listening to the comments of some of our barristers I got confused as to whether we were in the Parliament or the High Court.
I personally bear witness to the fact that the Razakars were an auxiliary force. This is because, in 1971, me, my mother, my husband, my aunts and uncles, my sister and my brothers, we were all prisoners of the Pakistan Army. During this time, my son was born in the Medical College. When we were held captive at a house on Road-18 in Dhanmondi, a militia of the Pakistani army used to stand guard outside our house. They had machine guns fixed to the roof and made bunkers around the house while the war was being fought. At one point we saw that the militia, which hailed from the Beluchistan regime, being removed and a group of armed Razakars started guarding us along with members of the Pakistani army. The rationed food from the army was meant for the Razakars as well. They were recognized as a part of the Pakistani forces and I feel that there cannot be any stronger evidence regarding their affiliation to the Pakistan army.
I am drawing your attention to a gazette notification.
The gazette was:
1. The Gazette of Pakistan Extraordinary Published by Authority Islamabad, Tuesday, September 7, 1971.
Government of Pakistan
Cabinet Secretariat (Cabinet Division)
NOTIFICATIONS
Rawalpindi, the 4th September, 1971
No. 103/22/71-Min-Dr. Abdul Motaleb Malik, HQA, assumed charge of the office of Governor of the Province of East Pakistan on and from the afternoon of the 3rd September, 1971
Ghulam Ishaq Khan, HQA,S.PK.CSP
Cabinet Secretary

2. Ministry of Defence
Rawalpindi, the 7th September, 1971
Government of Pakistan
No. 4852/543/PS-IA/3659/D-2A-In exercise of the powers conferred by subsection (1) and sub-section (3) of Section 5 of the Pakistan Army Act, 1952 (Act No. XXXIX of 1952) the Central Government is pleased to direct that -
(a) all the provisions of the said Act shall, so far as may be, apply to the Razakars raised under the East Pakistan Razakars Ordinance, 1971 (East Pakistan Ordinance No. X of 1971);
(b) the officer of the Pakistan Army under whose command any member of the Razakars is placed shall exercise the same powers in relation to that member as he is authorized to exercise under the said Act in relation to a member of the Pakistan Army placed under his command.
I do not think that any further proof is necessary regarding the status of the Razakars during the war. A certificate of declaration prepared for in-training Razakars and directed to the Pakistani army officer, was earlier produced by Md. Nasim. I do not think the particulars of the certificate need to be re-iterated today.
However, I do want to direct your attention to the fact that both the Al-Badrs and the Razakars are mentioned in the certificate.
"Sources reports that Pak. Army has organised and formed Razakar Bahini in East Pakistan.