Khondakar Abu Taleb

Last updated

Khondakar Abu Taleb
Chief reporter of The Daily Ittefaq
Personal details
Born23 March 1921
Died29 March 1971

Khondakar Abu Taleb (1921-1971) was a Bangladeshi journalist, who was killed by the Pakistani Army in the Bangladesh Liberation War and is considered a "martyr" in Bangladesh. [1] [2] [3]

Contents

Early life

Taleb was born on 23 March 1921 in Satani, Satkhira, East Bengal, British Raj. He finished school from Satkhira PN School in 1944. He graduated from Kolkata Ripon College. In 1948, he competed his bachelor's degree in commerce and in 1956, he completed his law degree from Surendranath Law College. [1]

Career

Taleb started his journalism career in Kolkata, West Bengal, after the partition of India he moved to Dhaka, East Bengal. He worked in a number of East Bengal newspapers, including Pakistan Observer , Sangbad, Daily Azad , Ittefaq and Paigam. From 1961 to 1962, he was the general secretary of East Pakistan Journalist union. Till 1965, he was the chief reporter of the Daily Ittefaq . [1]

In 1966, the Pakistan government closed down Ittefaq. He joined the Daily Sandhya Awaz as the managing director, of which then Abdul Gaffar Choudhury was the editor. His paper was the first to the publish the Six Point demand of Sheikh Mujib in Bangla, which demanded autonomy of East Pakistan. The translation was personally done by him. In 1969, he joined a law firm as a consultant and worked as the feature editor of the Daily Paigam. He was supportive of the non-cooperation movement in East Pakistan and Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971. [1]

Death and legacy

Taleb was arrested on 29 March 1971 by members of Pakistan Army with collaboration of the Biharis in Mirpur. His dead body was found afterwards. On 14 December 1993, the Bangladesh Post Office released commemorative stamps with his image and name. [1]

In 2011, Abdul Quader Molla, a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, was charged by the Bangladesh International Crimes Tribunal with the killing of Taleb, among five other charges of crimes against humanity. [4] The charge was that Molla along with other members of Al Badr and non-Bangalees, detained Taleb from Mirpur 10 bus stand and tied him up with a rope, brought to the Mirpur Jallad Khana Pump House and killed. [5] In 2013, Molla was found guilty and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment for the murder of Taleb, and life imprisonment on other charges. [6] Many activists reacted to the verdict by protesting and demonstrating, demanding the death penalty, [7] [8] which culminated in the 2013 Shahbag protests. [9] The Supreme Court revised the sentence to death, and Molla was hanged in 2013. [10]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Motiur Rahman Nizami</span> Bangladeshi politician

Motiur Rahman Nizami was a politician, former Minister of Bangladesh, Islamic scholar, writer, and the former leader of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. He is noted for leading the terror squad Al-Badr during the Bangladesh Liberation War. On 29 October 2014, he was convicted of masterminding the Demra massacre by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Nizami was the Member of Parliament for the Pabna-1 constituency from 1991 to 1996 and again from 2001 to 2006. He also served as the Bangladeshi Minister of Agriculture and Minister of Industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed</span> Bangladeshi politician (1948–2015)

Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed was a Bangladeshi politician who served as a Member of Parliament and as the Minister of Social Welfare from 2001 to 2007. He was executed in 2015 for war crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Muhammad Kamaruzzaman</span> Bangladeshi politician and journalist

Muhammad Kamaruzzaman was a Bangladeshi politician and journalist who served as the senior assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and was convicted of war crimes during the 1971 Liberation war of Bangladesh. He was executed by hanging at Dhaka Central Jail at 22:01 on 11 April 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals</span> War crime by the Pakistan Army during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971

In 1971, the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators, most notably the extreme right wing militia group Al-Badr, engaged in the systematic execution of Bengali intellectuals during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971. Bengali intellectuals were abducted, tortured and killed during the entire duration of the war as part of the 1971 Bangladesh genocide. However, the largest number of systematic executions took place on 25 March and 14 December 1971, two dates that bookend the conflict. 14 December is commemorated in Bangladesh as Martyred Intellectuals Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah</span> Bengali politician and journalist (c.1911–1969)

Tofazzal Hossain, popularly known as Manik Miah, was a Pakistani Bengali journalist and politician. He served as the founding editor of The Daily Ittefaq. He wrote the editorial Rajnoitik Moncho. Most of his newspaper's journalists were considered leftist, as Miah followed the pattern of Awami League. According to journalist and editor of Shongbad Bozlur Rahman, Awami activists followed his editorial more than any actual decision of a meeting. He was a close associate of the founder of Bangladesh, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami</span> Bangladeshi Islamist political party (founded 1975)

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, is a major Islamist political party in Bangladesh.

Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin, is a British citizen convicted of war crimes committed during the Bangladesh Liberation War which involved the murder of Bengali intellectuals in collaboration with the Pakistan Army. After the liberation of Bangladesh, Chowdhury escaped from Bangladesh and attained British citizenship. Bangladesh has yet to file a request with the UK government to bring back Mueen, and the two countries do not have any extradition treaty signed between them.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury</span> Bangladeshi politician

Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury was a Bangladeshi politician, minister and six-term member of Jatiya Sangsad and member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Standing Committee, who served as the adviser of parliamentary affairs to Prime Minister Khaleda Zia in from 2001 to 2006. On 1 October 2013 he was convicted of 9 of 23 charges and sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh for crimes during the 1971 Bangladesh War of Independence. However, limitations placed on his defense testimony were called "disturbing" and the trial was politically motivated.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)</span> Domestic war crimes tribunal

The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) (ICT of Bangladesh) is a domestic war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and their local collaborators Razakars, Al-Badr and Al-Shams during the Bangladesh Liberation War. During the 2008 general election, the Awami League (AL) pledged to try war criminals. The government set up the tribunal after the Awami League won the general election in December 2008 with a more than two-thirds majority in parliament.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Serajuddin Hossain</span> Bangladeshi journalist

Serajuddin Hossain was a prominent Bangladeshi journalist. He was the news and executive editor of The Daily Ittefaq. He was captured from his residence by the Pakistan army with the help of Al-Badr and Razakar. He was not only a prominent journalist, but was also considered to be a good writer and translator. He was very close to Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He was the first to introduce investigative reporting into Bangla newspaper. During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, the country was occupied by the Pakistani army. During this time, Serajuddin Hossain wrote in the newspaper on behalf of the liberation war, and secretly helped the freedom fighters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rashid Talukder</span> Bangladeshi photojournalist

Rashid Talukder was a Bangladeshi photojournalist for The Daily Ittefaq, most known for capturing some of the defining images of the genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abdul Quader Mollah</span> A convicted war criminal and Islamist politician from Bangladesh.

Abdul Quader Mollah was a Bangladeshi Islamist leader, writer, and politician of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, who was convicted of war crimes and sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal, Bangladesh (ICT) set up by the government of Bangladesh and hanged. The United Nations raised objections to the trial's fairness, while the general public in Bangladesh widely supported the execution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Shahbag protests</span> Shahbag Protests (movement) in 2013

On 5 February 2013, protests ignited in Shahbagh, Bangladesh, fueled by the call for the execution of the convicted war criminal Abdul Quader Mollah. Previously sentenced to life imprisonment, Mollah was convicted on five of six counts of war crimes by the International Crimes Tribunal of Bangladesh. Mollah supported the West Pakistan during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and played a crucial role in the murder of numerous Bengali nationalists and intellectuals. The demonstrations also sought the government's ban on the radical right-wing and conservative-Islamist group, Jamaat-e-Islami from participating in politics, including elections, and a boycott of institutions supporting or affiliated with the group.

Ashrafuz Zaman Khan is a Pakistani Bengali American who is one of the convicted masterminds of 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals. In 1971, he was a member of the Central Committee of the Islami Chhatra Sangha. After liberation he went to Pakistan and worked for Radio Pakistan. Later, he moved to New York and presently heads the Queens branch of Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA). He was sentenced to death in absentia by the International War Crimes Tribunal for killing 18 Bengali intellectuals during the last days of the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2013 Bangladesh anti-Hindu violence</span> Anti-Hindu violence in Bangladesh

On 28 February 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal sentenced Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, the vice-president of the Jamaat-e-Islami to death for war crimes committed during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War. Following the sentence, activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir attacked Hindus in different parts of the country. Hindu properties were looted, Hindu houses were burnt into ashes and Hindu temples were desecrated and set on fire. While the government has held the Jamaat-e-Islami responsible for the attacks on minorities, the Jamaat-e-Islami leadership has denied any involvement. Minority leaders have protested the attacks and appealed for justice. The Supreme Court of Bangladesh has directed law enforcement to start suo motu investigation into the attacks. The US Ambassador to Bangladesh expressed concern about attacks by Jamaat on the Bengali Hindu community.

2013 Bangladesh violence refers to the political instability, increase in crime and widespread attacks of minorities and opposition activists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Movement demanding trial of war criminals (Bangladesh)</span>

The movement demanding trial of war criminals is a protest movement in Bangladesh, from 1972 to present demanding trial of the perpetrators of 1971 Bangladesh genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation War from Pakistan.

Meherun Nesa was a poet and martyred Bengali intellectual of the Bangladesh Liberation War.

Abdul Khaleque Mondal was a Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami politician who was a Jatiya Sangsad member, representing the Satkhira-2 constituency from 2001 to 2006. On 24 March 2022, he was sentenced to death for war crime charges.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jalladkhana Killing field</span> Mass grave in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Jalladkhana Killing Field, is a mass grave site in Mirpur, Dhaka used in the 1971 Bangladesh genocide by Pakistan Army and its local collaborators during the Bangladesh Liberation war.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Siddiqua, Arifa. "Taleb, Khondakar Abu". Banglapedia . Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  2. ↑ Chaudhuri, Kalyan (1972). Genocide in Bangladesh. Orient Longman. p. 153. ISBN   9780883860458 . Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "PIB unveils plaque for 13 martyred journalists". Dhaka Tribune . 14 December 2016. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  4. ↑ "Molla sentenced to life in jail". bdnews24.com. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
  5. ↑ "Charges and verdicts against Molla". Dhaka Tribune. 11 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "Quader Molla charged". The Daily Star. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 12 December 2013.
  7. ↑ "Outraged". The Daily Star. 6 February 2013.
  8. ↑ "Verdict surprises some top jurists", The Daily Star, 7 February 2013
  9. ↑ "Outrage explodes over verdict". The Daily Star. 7 February 2013.
  10. ↑ Tanim Ahmed; Biswadip Das (12 December 2012). "Quader Molla hangs, finally, for war crimes". bdnews24.com .
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.