Ministry of Liberation War Affairs on December 15 published the first list containing names and addresses of 10,789 Razakars, who collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces during the 1971 Liberation War, reports Dhaka Tribune. While releasing the names for the first time in 48 years of its independence, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque at a press conference in the Ministry's conference room said the initiative was taken in an attempt to let the next generations know about the anti-liberation forces. “They should learn who played what roles during the Liberation War. The list did not include the top brass of the then political parties who supported Pakistani army in the atrocities. These Razakars are those who helped the military at the field level,” the Minister said. The first instalment of Razakars’ list is less than a third of fully exhaustive list, which the Minister expects to be ready by March 25, 2020.
Meanwhile, War Crimes campaigners as well as victim families have asked the Government to increase the number of tribunals and logistic supports for tribunal, prosecution and investigation agency for accelerating ongoing War Crimes trials, reports New Age on December 16. They made the demand as only 41 cases were disposed in past nine years by two International Crimes Tribunals (ICTs) in which 95 people were convicted of war crimes and 32 cases are still pending before the ICT-1 as the ICT-2 is now defunct. “Justice should be made to all the martyred and victim families by completing the trial. For this, the number of tribunals should be increased. At the same time, logistic support should be increased for the tribunal, prosecution and the investigation agency,” Ekattarer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee president Shahriyar Kabir told.