Belying frequent assurances that a full and final list of freedom fighters will be published, the government is not releasing it on Independence Day this year.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque says the work has been done and the list of 1971 war heroes will be out in April.
The ministry will provide the freedom fighters with smart cards for their monthly allowance and other benefits once the list is published. All their profiles will be saved digitally, reports bdnews24.com.
Dubbed by officials as a combined list, it will feature the names of 177,200 freedom fighters.
The government began screening the names of freedom fighters in January 2017, but the list has not been finalised in five years. Mozammel had said on several occasions that the list would be out on the 51st Independence Day.
Shahriar Kabir, president of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, said it is “regrettable” that an “errorless” list has not been finalised despite their demands.
He blamed the red tape for the delay. “They [bureaucrats] have other works to do. Many controversies were also created because the task was given to bureaucrats.”
Shahriar lamented that many freedom fighters are laid to rest without state honour after their death because the list has not been published.
A draft list was published in five phases in 2021. The government also commissioned a list of collaborators of the Pakistan Army.
WAIT IS ON AFTER THE ‘END OF WORK’
Mozammel said they tried to, but could not finalise the list on time.
“All the works are complete. The papers are ready. We'll publish the list anytime,” he said, adding they hope to release it next month.
The profiles of the freedom fighters were made and being uploaded to a management information system software, according to him.
The ministry was formed in 2002 to improve the living standards of the freedom fighters and give them state recognition.
But as it could not make an acceptable list, its job has been limited to verifying freedom fighter certificates and cutting out the names of fake freedom fighters from the existing lists.
For this, the government has formed Jatiya Muktijoddha Council with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as its advisor and Mozammel as ex-officio chairman.
SIX LISTS
According to the ministry, six lists of freedom fighters have so far been published by different governments with the first one coming out in 1986 when a national committee released the names of 102,458 freedom fighters in newspapers. The list was not gazetted.
The list made by Freedom Fighter Welfare Trust included the names of 70,892, including 51,526 civilians.
In 1994, during the BNP government, 86,000 were named as freedom fighters.
The Muktijoddha Sangsad published lists of total 186,790 freedom fighters from 1998 to 2001 during the Awami League government. The Muktijoddha Kendriyo Command Council downsized the list to 158,452 after scrutiny. Hasina signed 47,000 certificates for the freedom fighters on that list.
From 2001 to 2006, the BNP-led coalition government put 210,581 people on the list and later gazetted the names of 198,889 people.
In 2011, the Awami League-led government accepted the applications for an amendment to the list and for recognition of the heroic freedom fighters. In light of this move, about 139,000 applications were received online and directly by Oct 31, 2014.
NEW RECOGNITION, CERTIFICATES REVOKED
These applications have been under scrutiny for five years.
There is a stay order by the High Court as there are legal complications with the verification process in many Upazilas.
In this process, about 9,000 freedom fighters have been recognised so far. The appeals of about 40,000 of those excluded are currently awaiting a hearing in the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council.
Mozammel said among the gazetted freedom fighters, there will be categories such as martyrs, wounded, military, civilians, and female freedom fighters or Biranganas and Mujibnagar government employees.
“The process of identifying fake freedom fighters is ongoing. The government has revoked certificates of 10,000 fake freedom fighters gazetted during the BNP rule.”
The ministry cancelled the certificates of 40 government officials, including former health secretary Niaz Uddin Miah, former public service secretary AKM Amir Hossain, and former PMO secretary Molla Waheeduzzaman, for providing false information.
When the incident came to light, the government retired Niaz, Amir and Wahiduzzaman.
After the Awami League came to power in 1996, a monthly allowance of Tk 300 was introduced.
Later, the government added various facilities, including recruitment for government jobs, for the freedom fighters. Many freedom fighters then came forward for the listing.
After the Awami League came to power again in 2009, the facilities for the freedom fighters were increased to a great extent. Many have applied for inclusion in the list for political and social benefits as well.
The government made 60 years the retirement age for freedom fighters in public service, while the retirement age of others is 59 years.
The freedom fighters get a monthly honorarium of up to Tk 20,000, Tk 10,000 for each Eid, Victory Day allowance of Tk 5,000 and Bangla New Year allowance of Tk 2,000 and other financial benefits, including medical treatment.
As many as 12,674 families of martyrs or wounded and awarded freedom fighters are receiving allowances from Tk 20,000 to Tk 45,000.