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Bangladesh hangs opposition leaders for war crimes

Jamaat-e-Islami called for a nationwide strike to protest the executions.

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Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujahid and Salahuddin Quader Chowdhury were hanged on Sunday for war crimes committed in 1971 during the Pakistan independence conflict.

Ministers, politicians, war crimes campaigners and freedom fighters said the Pakistani statement was a blatant violation of diplomatic norms, and interference in Bangladesh’s domestic issues.

She deplored Dhaka’s decision to execute the two BNP leaders and said their execution would probably widen the divide in Bangladesh.

The country which Bangladesh seceded from through a bloody war in 1971 termed the trial of crimes against humanity “flawed”.

Bangladesh was on high alert Monday against any violence in response to Sunday’s hangings, with thousands of security personnel patrolling its cities.

Mujahid, 67, was found guilty of genocide, conspiracy in killing intellectuals, torture and abduction during the independence war, while Chowdhury, 66, was convicted of torture, rape and genocide.

It was not immediately clear who attacked the vehicle.

Pro-liberationyouths’ platform Gonojagoron Moncho and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s ruling Bangladeshi Awami League party and its associate bodies burst into rejoice. Chowdhury was a member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and other parties during his political career.

As it is being told that, President of Bangladesh turned down the pleas of the leaders to avoid the death penalty, however, it was rejected on Saturday night and was planned to execute these top leaders as sooner as possible.

An editorial “Pakistan’s statement on hanging of war criminals uncalled for and unacceptable” in the Daily Star on Tuesday said: “We are outraged by Pakistan foreign ministry’s statement expressing “deep concern and anguish” over the execution of two war criminals who collaborated with the Pakistani forces to perpetrate the most heinous crimes against the Bengalis in 1971″.

There are fears the executions could spark fresh unrest in the Muslim-majority nation, which is reeling from a string of killings of secular bloggers as well as the murders of two foreigners in recent months. The opposition says the tribunals are created to settle scores rather than deliver justice but the government insists that the trials have been fair and were needed to address the country’s bloody history.

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Although the main Opposition party, the BNP, is in disarray and its ally Jamaat does not command much significance, the chances of a backlash cannot be ruled out in Bangladesh.

Pakistan calls for reconciliation in Bangladesh under 1974 agreement