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Jamaat-e-Islami leader Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher has warned the interim government will be forced to step down if ATM Azharul Islam, sentenced to death for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, is not released immediately.
He said, "We did not want to speak out against this government. We were the ones who helped bring it to power. We see the shadow of an Indian influence over it now.
“The verdict against Azharul was not delivered by the Bangladesh Tribunal or the Supreme Court—it was issued from a secret dark room of the Modi government."
"Matiur Rahman Nizami was hanged on India’s orders. Kamruzzaman was also executed at India's behest.
“India has used Sheikh Hasina to carry out the executions, imprisonments, and oppression of all our leaders,” he claimed.
The Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer said, "We do not accept India, we accept Bangladesh. Our movement has just begun. Release Azharul Islam immediately.
“Either you step down, or he must be freed at once,” he demanded during a rally at the Cumilla Town Hall ground on Tuesday afternoon.
The rally was held as part of a nationwide programme demanding the reinstatement of Jamaat-e-Islami’s registration and the immediate release of the party’s Assistant Secretary General Azharul.
Protest marches were held in the city following the rally.
The International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Azharul to death on Dec 30, 2014, in a case of crimes against humanity in 1971.
Then, the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence in its verdict on Oct 31, 2019.
Azharul filed a plea with the Appellate Division on Jul 19, 2020, seeking a review of the verdict. The hearing of which will be held on Feb 20.
Two days earlier, at a rally in Cumilla, Taher had also said, "Indian agents have infiltrated this government as well.
“Those who continue to uphold India's hegemony through conspiracies will face a fate worse than Sheikh Hasina's."