BAZLUL BASID CHOUDHURY reports the death of Professor Ghulam Azam in the judicial custody of Bangladesh government, his funeral and burial and throws light on his life.
Veteran Islamic leader and former Chief of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Professor Ghulam Azam, 92, received something akin to a people’s state funeral on 25 October. Dhaka became a sea of people and for once the security forces were also in their best of behaviour. The funeral prayer of this internationally reputed national leader was held at the national Mosque, the Baitul Mukarram in Dhaka. A multitude of people soon filled this largest Mosque in the country, then overflowing to the huge avenue outside as far as eyes could see. At the end the man who some in the country tried to disagree received the most dignified burial with utmost respect which no other Bangladeshi leader received since independence.
Professor Ghulam Azam breathed his last at Banglabandhu Medical University. He was days away to complete his 92 years. His family members and lawyers confirmed that he had died at 10.30 PM on 23 October.
People from all walks of life along with leaders and activists of the Jamaat, Islami Chhatra Shibir and other associate bodies thronged Baitul Mukarram Mosque hours before the azan of Zuhr was called.
A white ambulance carrying Professor Azam’s body left his house at Moghbazar around the noon and was soon joined by scores of Jamaat-Shibir men who were waiting on both sides of the road, with police and security forces keeping a dignified and watchful eye all along the funeral route.
Brigadier General (Retd.) Amin Azami led the funeral prayers of his father. After the funeral service, Professor Azam’s body was taken to his family home in Moghbazar district for burial at his family graveyard next to his father’s grave.
Prior to the funeral, the Naib Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Professor Mujibur Rahman, and Brigadier General (Retd.) Azami addressed the gathering. Azmi said his father had devoted his life to the cause of Islam and hoped that Islamic movement in the country would not be halted in his absence. “I am certain that my father did not hurt anyone knowingly in his life. Despite that if anyone feels offended by any of his acts, I humbly offer an apology to them,” he told the large gathering.
Azami accused the government of obstructing the arrival of his brothers from London. “My father wished to have his janaza conducted by his elder son. But he, along with my other brothers, was not allowed to enter the country.” Jamaat’s executive committee member Syed Abdullah Mohammed Taher alleged that the government refused visa to Ghulam Azam’s foreign friends and well-wishers who wanted to travel to Bangladesh to pay respect to the late Jamaat supremo.
On 25 October the Bangladeshi community in Britain held their own Ghaibana Namaz-e-Janaza (funeral prayer in absentia) in East London’s Altab Ali Park after Zuhr prayer attended by a huge gathering. Similar prayers were held in other British cities, including Birmingham, Manchester, Oldham, Glasgow and Luton. Such funeral prayers were held throughout the Muslim world. In Lahore, Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistan Sirajul Haq led the funeral prayer in absentia on 24 October and the world’s most revered Islamic scholar Sheikh Yusuf Al Qardawi led Professor Azam’s funeral prayer at Masjid Sayyedah Ayesha in Qatar’s capital Doha. Only in Turkey funeral prayers were held in 81 cities. He was particularly revered in Turkey as a close friend of the former Turkish premier, Necmettin Erbakan, and his death was reported as front page news by a Turkish newspaper. Professor Azam’s funeral prayers in absentia were held in many other countries including the USA, Finland, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and India.
Professor Azam dedicated his life to preach the teachings of Islam and sacrificed pursuit of material wealth, always living a plain and simple life.
Professor Azam was in hospital since his arrest on 11 January, 2012, and was put on life support around 9.30 PM on 23 October 2014.
A special tribunal on 15 July last year sentenced him to 90 years in prison on 61 largely fabricated charges of war crimes during the Bangladesh 1971 war of independence. Salman al-Azami, Azam’s son, who spoke to Al Jazeera from London, said that the family had never been satisfied with the trial proceedings or the judgement.
“It is very difficult, we are mainly upset that he had been deprived of a dignified death,” he said, adding: “At such a frail age, any human being deserves to be with his family in his last days.”
“The accusation of the involvement of my father and the party leaders in the [1971] atrocities is ridiculous,” al-Azami further said.
“Our view has been to have a fair trial,” he said. “Those who are the real perpetrators should be brought to justice.”
Professor Azam was the most discussed political leader of contemporary Bangladesh. He was an iconic figure to the millions of young men and women. He was born to Ghulam Kabir and Syeda Ashrafunnesa in Shah Shaheb Bari of Lakhibazar of the old town on 7 November 1922 and had lived through three historical stages of the country – the British colonial rule, the Pakistani rule and independent Bangladesh. He received his Masters in political science from Dhaka University. He was elected General Secretary of Dhaka University Central Students Union for 1947-48 and 1948-49 terms.
Professor Azam played a leading role in the Language Movement of the country. In November 1948, he submitted a memorandum to the then Prime Minister of Pakistan, Mr Liaqat Ali Khan on behalf of the students of Dhaka University demanding state language status for Bengali. He played an active role in the language movement and was arrested twice, in 1952 and in 1955. He also lost his job as an assistant professor at Rangpur Carmichael College for his role in the language movement.
He became the Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami of East Pakistan in 1957. He was thrown to jail in 1964 by the military ruler Ayub Khan for his Jamaat activities. Professor Azam played a key role in the formation of Pakistan Democratic Alliance (PDM) in 1967 of which Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was also a member. He became the Ameer of East Pakistan Jamaat-e-Islami in 1969. During the liberation war, he continued to call for a united Pakistan, but was troubled by the increasing violence used against the Bangladeshi people by the Pakistani army.
After the liberation of Bangladesh, the then government of Bangladesh led by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman cancelled his Bangladeshi citizenship along with 82 others. Professor Azam moved to London and spent his six years exile life there.
Professor Azam returned to Bangladesh in July 1978 with a visitor visa as he did not have Bangladeshi citizenship. He repeatedly applied to subsequent Bangladesh governments to restore his citizenship, but never received a reply. He was sent to jail in March 1992 under the ‘Foreigner’s Act’ for overstaying his visit visa, after which he moved the Supreme Court to restore his citizenship. He was released from jail 16 months later when the High Court restored his citizenship. Following an appeal from the government against the High Court ruling, Prof Azam citizenship ruling was upheld by a full-member Appellate Division Court in 1994, which ensured his full rights as a citizen of Bangladesh.
Professor Azam retired from active politics in 2000. He left behind his wife, 6 sons, a large number of grandchildren, great grandchildren, and of course millions of friends, supporters, followers and well-wishers across the globe.