On 27 May 2025, Bangladesh’s Supreme Court overturns the death sentence of so-called Islamist Leader and worst war criminal accused of mass murder in 1971 during Bangladesh’s liberation war. The long battle to bring war criminal ATM Azharul Islam to justice ends in a disgraceful acquittal — a dark day for the nation.
In a move that has stunned the nation and outraged the victims of the 1971 genocide, the Appellate Division of Bangladesh's Supreme Court has overturned the death sentence of Jamaat-e-Islami stalwart ATM Azharul Islam, once convicted for heinous war crimes during the country’s struggle for independence.
The full bench of the Appellate Division, led by Chief Justice Syed Refaat Ahmed, delivered the shocking verdict on 27 May 2025. The court ordered Azhar’s immediate release if no other charges are pending against him—effectively dismantling years of judicial proceedings and reducing to ashes the hope of closure for thousands of bereaved families.
ATM Azharul Islam had been condemned to death by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) on 30 December 2014 for his role in genocide, abduction, torture, rape, and arson in the Rangpur region during the 1971 Liberation War. The tribunal found him guilty on five of nine charges, including the slaughter of 1,256 unarmed civilians, the abduction of 17 others, and the rape of 13 women. His crimes also included the burning of homes and the brutal torture of innocents.
Yet today, the final bastion of justice has fallen. This culminated in his acquittal—a legal and moral travesty that strikes at the heart of our national conscience.
The Unspeakable Crimes of 1971
The war of liberation began on the night of 25 March 1971, when the West Pakistani military junta, under orders from General Yahya Khan, launched Operation Searchlight—a genocidal campaign aimed at crushing the independence movement of East Pakistan. The Pakistani forces were aided by their local collaborators: Jamaat-e-Islami, Al-Badr, Al-Shams, and the Razakars. Among these, ATM Azhar, a then young and zealous Jamaat leader, emerged as one of the most infamous commanders of the Al-Badr militia.
Aided by the Pakistani military, Azhar presided over systematic massacres in Rangpur. Men were executed enmasse. Women were raped. Homes were looted and burned to the ground. Yet this same man has now been absolved by the very system that once vowed to hold him accountable.
The ICT was established in 2009 with the solemn promise to bring justice to the victims of 1971. It was in that spirit that on 31 October 2019, the Supreme Court had upheld Azhar’s death sentence—confirming the ICT's ruling after a full hearing. But now, in a stunning reversal, that decision has been undone.
A Faker in Holy Attire
Following Bangladesh’s hard-earned independence, Jamaat-e-Islami was banned and many of its leaders fled the country. But the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on 15 August 1975 and the subsequent rise of military dictator Ziaur Rahman saw a dark resurgence. The ban was lifted. The criminals returned. They reorganized. They rebranded. And worst of all, they were emboldened.
Clad in Islamic garb—long beards, prayer caps, and flowing tunics—these men began masquerading as pious leaders. They hijacked the symbols of our holy religion to mask their unforgivable crimes. What piety lies in blood-soaked hands? What sanctity can be found in a heart that sanctioned genocide?
ATM Azhar, like his ideological forefathers, now presents himself as a humble elder. A “holy man” in appearance. But we remember him as the butcher of Rangpur. No clothing, no beard, no pious declaration can absolve the sins he committed. In 1971, he screamed “Allahu Akbar” while ordering executions. He praised Pakistan as the holy land of Islam as he watched Bengali corpses pile up. He denied our martyrs even the dignity of burial—leaving them to be devoured by dogs and vultures.
Truth, Lies, and Jamaat’s Theater of Deception
These men are masters of duplicity. They wrap themselves in faith while poisoning the very soul of religion. According to science writer Robin Marantz Henig, the English language contains over a hundred words for deception—prevarication, collusion, self-delusion, fakery. The likes of Azhar embody every single one.
Their ideology, steeped in fascist dogma and warped religiosity, is fundamentally incompatible with truth, justice, and humanity. Jamaat-e-Islami’s leaders have always spoken in doubletalk. Their “Islamic state” is a euphemism for tyranny. Their “final solution” for Bangladesh in 1971 was not spiritual unity, but extermination. Golam Azam, the mastermind of Jamaat, orchestrated mass killings with Nazi-like precision. ATM Azhar was one of his devout disciples.
It was not only Golam Azam who pulled the trigger. It was all of them—Azhar, Sayedee, Nizami, Mujahid—who loaded the bullets, fed the hatred, and worshipped death.
Justice Betrayed; Memory Desecrated
For decades, the people of Bangladesh fought for justice. Many never lived to see it. And now, with ATM Azhar’s acquittal, it feels as though a cruel eraser has wiped away the blood-written truth of 1971.
Let us not forget: these war crimes were not accidents. They were planned. Deliberate. Executed with zeal. The ICT’s exhaustive trials and evidence-based convictions were fair, transparent, and upheld by international observers. The fairness shown to these butchers was never afforded to their victims.
And yet today, we are told to accept that ATM Azhar walks free. Is this not the ultimate insult to the memory of those whose blood nourished the roots of our independence?
No Forgiveness for the Unrepentant
Let us be clear: ATM Azhar and his ilk are not humans in the moral sense. They are sub-human beasts who celebrated the deaths of innocents in 1971. They spat on our Holy Religion by using it as a shield for carnage. They declared Pakistan to be the citadel of Islam, even as they butchered their own Muslim brethren.
If there is any justice left in this world, it must reject the falsehood that these men are reformable. They must never again be allowed to preach from the pulpit, contest in politics, or speak in our mosques. They must be remembered for what they truly are: traitors, killers, liars, et al.
The gallows would be too merciful for them. The same fate they handed to our martyrs should be visited upon them. Let vultures feed on their corpses as they once let our fallen rot in open fields.
History Will Judge
The 1971 war remains the bloodiest chapter in our history. The genocide carried out under the green flag of Pakistan, with the willing collaboration of Jamaat’s monsters, surpassed all bounds of cruelty. If we fail to hold every last war criminal accountable, we risk betraying not only the past but also the future.
The cause of justice is not served by pardons, delays, or acquittals. It is served only by remembrance and reckoning. For the sake of our martyrs, our children, and our sacred soil—we must keep fighting until truth triumphs.
“The black will take no other hue.
The devils will not heed scripture.
Let justice not be a dream deferred.”
By: Anwar A. Khan
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