A legal notice has been sent calling upon the liberation war affairs minister AKM Mozammel Haque to offer an unconditional apology to the nation within 24 hours for including the freedom fighters’ names in the Razakar’s list.
Otherwise, legal proceedings will be taken against the minister and other responsible persons for assassinating the freedom fighters' character, warned the legal notice.
S M Zulfiqure Ali, a Supreme Court lawyer, sent the notice the minister and the secretary concerned through a registered post.
According to the notice, by publishing this controversial Razakar list, the concerned ministry has undermined the freedom fighters as well as the whole nation at home and abroad.
Those who were responsible for making the list have committed an offence of sedition by including the freedom fighters’ names in the Razakar’s list, which is also contrary to the constitution, it said..
The notice cited that the freedom fighters who had participated in the liberation war directly against the Pakistani forces were also named in the list.
It read that the Freedom Fighter Council alleged that many noted Razakar’s names were excluded from the list, whereas the names of the members of the many martyred families were included in it.
Supreme Court lawyer Ali said the minister has violated the Constitution as well as his oath by publishing this controversial Razakar list.
The liberation war affairs ministry on Sunday published a list of 10,789 Razakars who had collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces during the War of Liberation in 1971.
But the official list drew huge criticisms as the names of several freedom fighters were on it.
Protesting this, freedom fighters and pro-liberation people also staged demonstrations across the country demanding cancellation of the list.
Amid nationwide outrage and angry protests, the ministry on Wednesday suspended the controversial Razakars’ list three days after its publication.
The decision came hours after road transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina instructed the ministries concerned to “correct the list” by dropping the names of freedom fighters from it.
The same day, minister AKM Mozammel Haque announced the suspension of the Razakar list, saying: “We have suspended the Razakars’ list as there are allegations that it contains names of freedom fighters. We will publish a fresh list on March 26 after scrutinising this one properly.”
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