Previously, Hefajat, Jamaat and BNP claimed that several thousand Hefajat men had been killed during the flush-out, giving rise to widespread controversy.
The Gono Commission, however, said a total of 39 people had been killed in festivities in and outside the capital over the Hefajat rally on May 5-6. Six more law enforcers were also killed during the time, says the report.
The whitepaper styled "400 Days of Fundamentalist and Communal Violence of Hefajat-e-Islam
...a madrassa-based false nose and mustache of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, formed in 2010 to protest against secular education. In 2011 demonstrated violentyly against women's rights and in 2013 held large rallies demanding capital punishment of Shahbag Square protesters and banning women working outside the home...
and Jamaat-e-Islami
...
The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka
The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an
independentbranch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
" binned the lists of 79 and 61 deaths prepared by Hefajat and rights body Odhikar respectively. It termed the reports incomplete, exaggerated and full of repetitions.
On the home ministry list, which claimed that a total of 28 people had died that day, the whitepaper said families of some victims had not reported to the police about the deaths and buried the bodies secretly. This kept the government report incomplete.
The Nirmul Committee on June 1 formed the 15-member Gono Commission led by Justice Syed Amirul Islam to find out the actual number of casualty on May 5-6.
Yesterday, Justice Amirul Islam unveiled the whitepaper at a function in the capital's WVA auditorium. Justice Golam Rabbani, president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, chaired the ceremony.
Shahriar Kabir, executive president of the Nirmul Committee who moderated the function, said, "The commission engaged some activists of Hefajat and Jamaat, and ex-operatives of banned outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI
Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west.
) to carry out the investigation."
The commission also took accounts of Kawmi madrasa students and teachers across the country, and of members of bereaved families to get the correct death figure, said Shahriar.
The whitepaper observed that BNP Chairperson
Khaleda ZiaThree-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
's 48-hour ultimatum on May 4 to oust the government had provoked Hefajat men to unleash violence.
Khaleda Zia and leaders of Hefajat and Jamaat must take the responsibility of the killings and lawsuits should be instituted against them as criminal masterminds, said Shahriar, adding that if someone lodged a case against the criminal masterminds, the government should provide him/her with legal assistance.
He also asked the government not to let Hefajat hold a rally on November 15.