Ghulam Azam
| Ghulam Azam | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
7 November 1922 Dhaka,Bengal, British Raj (now Bangladesh) |
| Died | 23 October 2014 (aged 91) Dhaka, Bangladesh |
| Resting place | Moghbazar, Dhaka |
| Alma mater | Dhaka University |
| Occupation | Teacher, politician |
| Known for | Politics, war crimes |
| Criminal charge | Conspiracy and incitement in committing genocide |
| Criminal penalty | Capital punishment (Changed to 90-year prison sentence) |
| Spouse(s) | Afifa Azam |
| Children | 6 |
| Leader of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh | |
|
In office 1960–2000 |
|
| Preceded by | Abdur Rahim |
| Succeeded by | Motiur Rahman Nizami |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Jamaat-e-Islami |
Ghulam Azam (Bengali: গোলাম আযম; 7 November 1922 – 23 October 2014) was a Bangladeshi politician convicted of war crimes. During the Bangladesh Liberation War in 1971, he led the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, which opposed the independence of Bangladesh and together with the Pakistani military establishment, perpetrated the 1971 Bangladesh genocide and was instrumental in the 1971 killing of Bengali intellectuals. He led the party until 2000.
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 members 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.
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