Delawar Hossain Saidi (2 February 1940 – 14 August 2023) was
a Bangladeshi Islamic scholar, orator and politician and former Member of
Parliament; He was sentenced to life in prison in 1971 for being a member of
the Razakar Force and aiding and abetting inhumane activities such as killings
by being associated with the Pakistani army during the Bangladesh War of
Independence.
He is the Naibe-emir or Vice President of the Bangladeshi
political party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He won the 1996 general election
for the first time and won the 2001 general election and was elected as a
member of the Bangladesh National Parliament for the second time.
In 2011, Saeedee was charged with war crimes. 20 counts of
crimes against humanity such as genocide, rape, torture, looting and forced
conversion of minority Hindus to Islam during the 1971 liberation war were
brought against him.
On 28 February 2013, the International Criminal Tribunal
found him guilty on eight of the 20 charges and sentenced him to death on two
counts. After his death sentence was announced, Jamaat-e-Islami and its
affiliates started mass protests and violence at home and abroad. After this
judgment, the state party and the accused appealed to the Supreme Court. On 17
September 2014, the Supreme Court of Bangladesh observed the appeal verdict and
commuted the death sentence imposed by the International Criminal Tribunal to
Saeedi and sentenced him to life in prison.
Several international observers condemned the verdict and
suggested the charges were politically motivated and a case of mistaken
identity. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International criticized his trial
verdict.
early life
Delawar Hossain Saidi was born on February 2, 1940 in
Indurkani village of Pirojpur district. His father Yusuf Shikdar was a very
ordinary householder of the village. As a child, he was known as Shikdar of Delwar
to the local people. He received his early religious education in a local
madrasah established by his father.
He was admitted to Charchina Aliya Madrasah in 1962 and
later shifted to Khulna Aliya Madrasa. After receiving religious education,
Saeedi started a business in a local village. He became known as a Muslim
scholar or Maulana. He was 30 years old during the 1971 Bangladesh War of
Independence. He was indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal in
Pirojpur in 1971 for inhumane acts and opposing the independence of Bangladesh.
However, according to his son Masood Saidi, he was not in Pirojpur in 1971 and
was living in Jessore since 1969.
Saeedee is proficient in Bengali, Urdu, Arabic and Punjabi
languages and also has proficiency in English and French.
Independence war of Bangladesh
In 1971, the war of independence started in Bangladesh (then
East Pakistan). On March 25, 1971, the Pakistan Army launched Operation
Searchlight on unarmed Bengalis, killing thousands of innocent Bangladeshis in
a night known as the Genocide. Delwar Hossain Saidi opposed the independence of
Bangladesh. He is accused of actively supporting the Pakistan Army at that
time. Various paramilitary forces were formed to help the Pakistan Army at that
time, as an active member of the paramilitary Razakar, Saeedee is accused of
killing, looting, torturing and forcibly converting minority Hindus to Islam.
Bangladesh gained independence in 1971. He was locally known
as 'Deilya Razakar' during the Liberation War. However, his lawyer at the
International Criminal Tribunal said on his behalf that 1971 Delwar Hossain
Shikder alias 'Deilya Razakar' is not one person; The infamous 'Deilya Razakar'
was arrested and killed by the freedom fighters after the war of independence.
Earlier, in another war crime case, another leader of his party,
Jamaat-e-Islami, Abdul Quader Molla, said the same thing, saying that Quader
Molla and 'Kasai Quader' are not the same person. It should be noted that
Quader Molla was hanged by the court's verdict.
political life
In the early 1980s, Saeedee began conducting Islamic
waj-mahfils and tafsirs across the country and gained national popularity for
his eloquent delivery; It was at this time that he decided to enter politics.
He was elected as one of the leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He participated
in the 1996 National Parliament election and was elected as a member of the
Bangladesh National Parliament for the first time. Later, Bangladesh
Jamaat-e-Islami and Bangladesh Nationalist Party formed an electoral alliance
in the 2001 parliamentary elections, and he was re-elected as a member of
parliament in this election.
Criticism of the 2001 war in Afghanistan
Saeedee was highly critical of the 2001 US and allied
operations to topple the Taliban government in Afghanistan and eliminate al Qaeda.
He opposed US and UK interference in the government of an independent Muslim
state. Al Qaeda is blamed for the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
In 2004, the United States Terrorist Screening Center (TSC)
added Saeedee to their no-fly list, meaning that citizens of this list cannot
enter the US soil from any country, due to Saeedee's extremist views towards
Western countries.
Foreign travel debate
In July 2006, after approval by the appropriate UK
authorities, Saeedi traveled to the UK to address rallies held in London and
Luton. Many British MPs considered his trip controversial. The Times published
a report on some of the leaked emails in which an adviser, Eric Taylor, said
that "Saeedee's previous trips to the UK have also been disrupted by the
aggressive behavior of his followers."
On July 13, 2006, a British journalist released a
documentary entitled “Who Speaks for Muslims? (Who speaks for Muslim?)” Saeedi
is also included here and referred to as an extremist ideologue. Saidi has a
large following in the British Bangladeshi community. He was invited to speak
at the East London Mosque on 14 July 2006; Later, Muhammad Abdul Bari,
Secretary General of the Muslim Council in Britain supported this invitation.
On 24 July 2009, immigration officials at Hazrat Shahjalal
International Airport stopped Saeedi from traveling abroad. Saeedi filed a writ
petition in the High Court on July 27 challenging the government's restriction
on his foreign travel. The Attorney General argued in favor of the ban before
the Chambers judge, arguing that Saeedee had been against Bangladesh's
independence in 1971 and that if Saeedee was not barred from traveling abroad,
he could campaign abroad against the government's move to prosecute war
criminals.
Accused of promoting religious hatred
The British media requested the Home Office of the United
Kingdom to cancel Saeedee's visa, accusing him of spreading hatred and making
provocative statements against the Hindus and Ahmadis of Bangladesh.
arrested
On June 29 of that year, the police arrested Delwar Hossain
Sayeedi from his house in Shaheen Bagh of the capital following the case filed
by Bangladesh Tariqat Federation Secretary General Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri
on March 21, 2010, alleging that "Islam has hurt the religious beliefs and
sentiments of people belonging to the religion of Islam".[43]
War crimes and other charges
Delaware Hossain Sayedi is alleged to have been involved in
the killing of then Subdivisional Police Officer Faizur Rahman.[44]
A public inquiry report published in 1994 accused Saeedee of
involvement in the brutal killings of Al Badr forces. A man named Manik Pashari
filed a case on August 12, 2009 in Pirojpur against Saeedi and four others.
Manik Pashari alleged that under the leadership of Delaware Hussain Sayeedi,
their house was set on fire and the caretaker of the house was killed.
Another case was filed in his name in the Pirojpur Judicial
Magistrate Court. This case was filed by a freedom fighter named Mohiuddin Alam
Howladar.
Delawar Hussain Saeedi claimed that the court should not
control fatwas (religious precepts), but fatwas should control the courts.[50]
He gave anti-Bangladesh speech under the cover of Tablighi
activities.
In 1971, he threatened local journalists of various leading
newspapers in Pirojpur for writing about Saeedee's role in the Liberation War.
Death sentence for crimes against humanity
Eight charges of crimes against humanity, including murder,
kidnapping, torture, rape, arson, looting, conversion, were specifically proven
against him by the International Criminal Tribunal. Among these charges, he was
sentenced to death. On February 28, 2013, on Thursday, the three-member
International Criminal Tribunal-1 headed by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir passed the
verdict. Out of the 20 charges against Saeedi, charges 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 14, 16,
19 were proved. Out of this, he was ordered to be hanged for the maximum
punishment in charges No. 8 and 10. For this, charges No. 6, 7, 11, 14, 16 and
19 were proved, but the tribunal did not announce any sentence. However, he was
acquitted of 12 other charges brought against him as they were not proved.
