Target: war crimes trial campaigners

A close scrutiny of the purported new hit list from Ansar Al Islam, the so-called Bangladesh chapter of al-Qaida, reveals some curious things that make one wonder whether the purpose of the list is what it claims to be and whether it was sent by some other organisation.

Names of some well-known intellectuals are on the list circulating on social media but which we chose not to run, and some of the names are of people who are not known public figures but quite active on Facebook or blogs.

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Although Ansar Al Islam said these persons have taken a stance against Islam, none of them, except one or two, actually had written anything against Islam or the Prophet. One of them is, in fact, a prominent figure in the war crimes tribunal. Rather, the majority of them have actually been very vocal against the anti-liberation force including Jamaat, Shibir and the Razakars.

They, through their numerous writings, had demanded the trial of war criminals, who essentially make the highest echelon of Jamaat-e-Islami, the party that stood against the independence of Bangladesh and joined hands with the Pakistani forces to carry out genocide and other atrocities.

Even when the country was under the rule of BNP-Jamaat, these writers were relentless in expressing their views.

We have gone through the Facebook posts of these relatively less prominent names on the list and the same pattern emerged.

For example, one has posted the Ansar Al Islam list and wrote: Threats will not work. The war criminals will be hanged. Two others also wrote against war criminals.

Another online activist wrote against Islamic militancy and the rise of Hindu extremism in India. Some other's posts mostly dwelled on Sharia and the change of character of the constitution with the inclusion of Bismillah and Islam as state religion.

All this actually went against Jamaat, many of whose leaders are now on the dock for war crimes trial. Its top leader Ali Ahsan Mojaheed is facing death as his trial is nearing an end.

There is the other criminal, Salauddin Quader  Chowdhury, who is also facing death and may have to walk the gallows once his last straw, a review petition, is rejected.

It is exactly in such a context that we see a sudden appearance of terrorist activities and the purported claims from ISIS and Ansar Al Islam. These groups suddenly seem to be desperate to swing into action. Their hit list also reflects the marauding interest of Jamaat and the war criminals.

So, will it not be logical to connect the two together and conclude that much of what is happening now is related with the war crimes trial? We can see a clear link. The militants have grown stronger on various platforms under the shadows of different political interests and now they seem to have got an urgent call to action with the top war criminals facing death.

The only answer to their effort will be to hunt them down and put them on the dock too.