Ghulam Azam

Golam Azam (born 1922 ) is a Bangladeshi political leader. He organized the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh and was associated with the Language Movement . He was also a participant in the formation of the Pakistan Democratic Alliance in 1967 . After Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971 , the government sought to remove the influence of the collaborators, and Azam's citizenship was cancelled. He lived in exile in Pakistan and England until 1978 , when he returned to Bangladesh, and his citizenship was restored in 1994 . During his time in exile, he travelled to a number of middle Eastern nations, seeking funds to help topple the Bangladeshi government. His party, the Jamaat-e-Islami, has been held responsible for thousands of human rights violations. It also promotes the ideas that democracy is un-Islamic because laws can come only from Islam, and that nationalism is un-Islamic, and therefore Bangladesh's secession from Pakistan is not acceptable. v t e

Ghulam Azam ( ) (born 7 November 1922), is a Bangladeshi political leader who is regarded in his country as a war criminal of the Liberation War of Bangladesh . The former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh , he opposed the independence of Bangladesh during and after the 1971 war and led the formation of Shanti Committee , Razakar and Al-Badr to thwart the Mukti Bahini that fought for independence. He also lobbied against the acknowledgment of new-born Bangladesh after 1971 with a opened demand called 'Bangladesh Na Manjoor' (Bangladesh not approved). During this activity Ghulam Azam sent requests to Middle Eastern countries to deny recognition to Bangladesh. This continued until the late 1980s. He was a permanent resident of England until 1978, and maintained Pakistani citizenship until 1994 due to the decision by the Bangladeshi government at the time to refuse him citizenship . From 1978 to 1994 he lived in Bangladesh illegally without any authorized Bangladeshi visa. In 1994, the Supreme Court upheld the decision to restore his citizenship of Bangladesh as a matter of birth-right. He was the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh until 2000.

Ghulam Azam ( ; 7 November 1922 – 23 October 2014) was a convicted Bangladeshi war criminal and politician who led the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh in the 1971 Bangladesh genocide which may have killed as many as 3 million people and was instrumental in the 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals . He led the party until 2000. Azam opposed the independence of Bangladesh during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War . On 15 July 2013, a Bangladeshi special tribunal (the International Crimes Tribunal ) found Azam guilty of war crimes such as conspiring, planning, incitement to and complicity in committing genocide, and gave him a 90-year prison sentence. The tribunal stated that Azam deserved capital punishment for his activity during Liberation war of Bangladesh but was given a lenient punishment of imprisonment because of his age and health condition. The trial has been criticized by several international observers, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International . Human Rights Watch, which was initially supportive of a trial subsequently criticized its "strong judicial bias towards the prosecution and grave violations of due process rights", calling the trial process deeply flawed and unable to meet international fair trial standards. Notably, it was at the center of the 2012 ICT Skype controversy . As a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, he led the formation of the Shanti Committees which were formed at the time of the Liberation War alongside other pro-Pakistan Bengali leaders. Azam was accused of forming paramilitary groups for the Pakistani Army, including Razakars , and Al-Badr . These militias opposed the Mukti Bahini revolutionaries who fought for the independence of Bangladesh, and also stand accused of war crimes. Azam's citizenship of Bangladesh had been cancelled by the Bangladeshi Government because of his role during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He lived in Bangladesh illegally without any authorised Bangladeshi visa from 1978 to 1994, when the Bangladesh Supreme Court reinstated his citizenship. Azam was arrested on 11 January 2012 on the charges of committing war crimes during the Bangladesh Liberation War by the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. The tribunal rejected the plea of bail after noting that there were formal charges against Azam of which it had taken cognisance. He died of a stroke on 23 October 2014 at BSMMU at the age of 91. The Oxford Dictionary of Islam . It is impossible to know the real death toll. The historian R J Rummel, who has looked as deeply into it as anyone, concludes that the "final estimate of Pakistan's democide to be 300,000 to 3,000,000, or a prudent 1,500,000." The numbers became politically important in the decades following. : Unknown parameter |publicationdate= ignored ( |publication-date= suggested) ( help ) "Ghulam Azam spared death" . "Azam found guilty of Bangladesh war crimes" . aljazeera . "Bangladesh: Islamist leader found guilty of war crimes" . euronews . Ghulam Azam Retires , Islamic Voice , December 2006. Guide to Islamist Movements .

He was the former leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami , the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. Azam was arrested by the government of Bangladesh on 11 January 2012 after he was found guilty in war crimes charges during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War . A member of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan , during the war he unsuccessfully opposed the breakup of Pakistan. He subsequently led the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh until 2000. On 15 July 2013, a Bangladeshi special tribunal, the International Crimes Tribunal found him guilty of war crimes such as conspiring, planning, incitement to and complicity in committing genocide and was sentenced to 90 years in jail. The tribunal stated that Azam deserved capital punishment for his activity during Liberation war of Bangladesh , but was given a lenient punishment of imprisonment because of his age and poor health condition. The trial was criticized by several international observers, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International . Human Rights Watch, which was initially supportive of a trial subsequently criticized "strong judicial bias towards the prosecution and grave violations of due process rights", calling the trial process deeply flawed and unable to meet international fair trial standards. Notably, it was at the center of the 2012 ICT Skype controversy . As a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, he led the formation of the Shanti Committees that were formed at the time of the Liberation War alongside other pro-Pakistan Bengali leaders. Azam was accused of forming paramilitary groups for the Pakistani Army, including Razakars , and Al-Badr . These militias opposed the Mukti Bahini members who fought for the independence of Bangladesh, and also stand accused of war crimes. Azam's citizenship was cancelled by the Bangladeshi Government because of playing an opposition role during the Bangladesh liberation war. He lived informally in Bangladesh from 1978 to 1994 without any authorised Bangladeshi visa. His citizenship was then reinstated by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh . Azam was arrested on 11 January 2012 by the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh on the charges of committing war crimes during the Bangladesh liberation war. The tribunal rejected the plea of bail after noting that there were formal charges against Azam of which it had taken cognisance. He was 91 when he died of a stroke on 23 October 2014 at BSMMU . Thousands of people attended his funeral prayers that were televised and held at the National Mosque of Bangladesh Baitul Mukarram . The Oxford Dictionary of Islam . Guide to Islamist Movements . Ghulam Azam is hospitalised after he loses bail appeal over war crimes , Corbis , 11 January 2012 "Ghulam Azam taken to hospital" .

Bangladeshi politician Ghulam Azam (7 November 1922 – 23 October 2014) was Bangladeshi politician and writer who served as ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami . He was vocal in gaining support for Operation Searchlight , a crackdown of Pakistan Army on Bengali nationalists, in the then East Pakistan . As a result of the crackdown, a civil war started in which Azam opposed separatism and due to his actions and involvement in alleged crimes during the war, after independence, the regime revoked Azam's citizenship in 1973. He came back in Bangladesh in 1979 with a Pakistani passport and stayed without any valid visa until he got his Bangladeshi citizenship again in the 1990s. Azam was arrested by the Awami League regime on 11 January 2012 after he was accused of war crimes during the Bangladesh War in 1971. As a member of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan , during the war, he opposed the dismemberment of East Pakistan from Pakistan. On 15 July 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal found him guilty of war crimes such as conspiring, planning, incitement to and complicity in committing genocide and was sentenced to 90 years in jail. The tribunal stated that Azam deserved capital punishment for his activity during the Bangladesh War but was given a lenient punishment of imprisonment because of his age and health issues. The trial was criticized by several international observers, including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International . Human Rights Watch, which was initially supportive of a trial subsequently criticized "strong judicial bias towards the prosecution and grave violations of due process rights", calling the trial process deeply flawed and unable to meet international fair trial standards. Notably, it was at the center of the 2012 ICT Skype controversy . As a leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, he led the formation of Shanti Committee that were formed at the time of the war alongside other pro-Pakistan Bengali leaders. Azam was accused of forming paramilitary groups for the Pakistani Army, including Razakars , and Al-Badr . These militias opposed the Mukti Bahini who fought for the independence of Bangladesh and also stand accused of war crimes. Azam's citizenship was cancelled by the regime. He lived informally in Bangladesh from 1978 to 1994 without any authorised Bangladeshi visa. His citizenship was then reinstated by the Supreme Court of Bangladesh . Azam was arrested on 11 January 2012 by the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh on the charges of committing war crimes during the Bangladesh liberation war. The tribunal rejected the plea of bail after noting that there were formal charges against Azam of which it had taken cognisance. He died at age 91, following a stroke, on 23 October 2014 at BMU . Thousands of people attended his funeral prayers that were televised and held at Baitul Mukarram . There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or templates on this page, but the references will not show without a template or template (see the help page ). The Daily Star (Bangladesh) . Guide to Islamist Movements . The Daily Star (Bangladesh) . The Daily Star (Bangladesh) .