Delwar Hossain Sayeedi (2 February 1940 – 14 August 2023), widely known as Allama Sayeedi, was a Bangladeshi Islamic leader, politician, scholar and public speaker who served as a
Member of Parliament representing
Pirojpur-1 constituency from 1996 to 2006.
Before entering into politics, Sayeedi was known for delivering Islamic lectures around various
Waz Mahfils across the country with large audiences.
Due to his role as a mufassir, Sayeedi received appraisals by the
Saudi Arabian Chief Imam
Sheikh Sudais, the
President of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques.
In 2013, the newly established
International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh accused him guilty on eight out of twenty counts, which included murder and religious persecution.
Various human rights groups have acknowledged that the tribunal fell short of international standards and the hearings were biased against the Sayeedi's party. The verdict, which condemned him to death, generated significant domestic and international attention, leading to both support and criticism.
The verdict subsequently led to public protests and clashes between his supporters, opponents, and law enforcement agencies, resulting in a series of riots and unrest.
''The Economist'' criticised the trial, mentioning the government's manipulative judicial system, staged public interference, restrictions on public discussion, not sufficient time allocated for the defence, the kidnapping of a defence witness and the resignation of a judge due to
2012 ICT Skype controversy.
In September 2014, the
Supreme Court
In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
commuted his sentence to
life imprisonment
Life imprisonment is any sentence (law), sentence of imprisonment under which the convicted individual is to remain incarcerated for the rest of their natural life (or until pardoned or commuted to a fixed term). Crimes that result in life impr ...
. His trial was further criticized by several international organizations including
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
and
Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
.
Sayeedi died on 14 August 2023 at the age of 83 due to a cardiac arrest.
Early life
Sayeedi received his first primary religious education at his local village madrassa, which was built by his father.
Sayeedi attended the Sarsina Alia Madrasah in 1962, followed by the Khulna Alia Madrasah.
Before venturing into politics, Sayeedi earned widespread recognition for his Islamic lectures, which he delivered at numerous waz mahfils (religious gatherings) across the country. These events consistently drew large audiences.
Political career
Sayeedi joined
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in 1979. He became a Rukon of Jamaat in 1982 and a Shura member of Majlis in 1989. In 1996, he became a member of the executive council of Jamaat. He served as Naib Amir of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami from 2009 till his death.
Having gained recognition, Sayeedi was elected as a member of parliament for constituency
Pirojpur-1 in the
June 1996 and
2001 national elections of Bangladesh.
Later, he was accused of, and later convicted of, committing arson, sexual violence and murder during the
Bangladesh War in 1971.
Critics point out that no DNA testing was conducted and some locals denied that he was involved.
His family claims that he was not in
Pirojpur at the time and lived in the New Market area of
Jessore
Jessore (, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District in Khulna Division. It lies in southwestern Bangladesh. It is home to the first flight training school of the Bangladeshi Air Force, established in 1971. Jessore city consists of 9 wa ...
.
Sayeedi and his family, then fled
Jessore
Jessore (, ), officially Jashore, is a city of Jessore District in Khulna Division. It lies in southwestern Bangladesh. It is home to the first flight training school of the Bangladeshi Air Force, established in 1971. Jessore city consists of 9 wa ...
looking for safety and stayed at the house of a ''
pir'' for about two weeks from around 1 April 1971. After that, the Sayeedi family took refuge in another village, Mohiron, under
Bagharpara in Jessore at the house of Roushan Ali.
Trial
On 22 March 2012, the Bangladesh government established the
International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh)
The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh), abbreviated as, ICT (Bangladesh), is a domestic war crimes tribunal in Bangladesh set up in 2009 to investigate and prosecute suspects for the genocide committed in 1971 by the Pakistan Army and ...
to hear cases resulting from investigations of war crimes during the struggle for independence. It was an effort to "provide justice for victims of atrocities in the 1971 war of independence."
In the lead up to the hearing, Sayeedi's eldest son and mother died and he suffered a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
. This delayed his trial by a month in 2012.
Accusations
Sayeedi was accused of involvement in numerous crimes, including the killing of over 50 individuals,
arson, rape,
looting
Looting is the act of stealing, or the taking of goods by force, typically in the midst of a military, political, or other social crisis, such as war, natural disasters (where law and civil enforcement are temporarily ineffective), or rioting. ...
, and coercion of Hindus to convert to Islam.
Arrest
On 24 July 2009, immigration officials at
Zia International Airport prevented Sayeedi from going abroad. He challenged the government's actions by filing a petition with the High Court on 27 July. The
appeals court upheld the travel bar 12 August, hours after the High Court declared the government's refusal to allow him to board an overseas flight illegal. The Attorney General stated before the Chamber Judge that Sayeedi had opposed the independence of Bangladesh in 1971. He argued that if Sayeedi was not barred from foreign travel, he might work against the government's efforts to bring justice for war crimes during that conflict.
On 21 March 2010, Syed Rejaul Haque Chandpuri, secretary general of the
Bangladesh Tarikat Federation, filed a case accusing Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and five other
Jamaat leaders of hurting religious sentiments. He was subsequently arrested.
Charge-sheets
On 12 August 2009, Manik Poshari filed a case in Pirojpur against Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and four others. His accusations dated to events during the 1971 Bangladeshi war of independence.
Mahbubul Alam Howladar, a former pro-independence fighter, and now a member and deputy commander of the pro-independence fighters association called ''Zianagor upazila
Muktijoddha Sangsad,'' filed charges against Sayeedi with the Pirojpur senior judicial magistrate's court in
Zianagar.
The war crime trials of Sayeedi began on 20 November 2011 at the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. The tribunal charged him with twenty counts of
crimes against humanity
Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...
, including murder, rape and arson, during the independence war. Some of the charges were
(a) passing secret information on the gathering of people behind the Madhya Masimpur bus-stand to the Pakistan Army, and leading the Army there, where 20 unnamed people were killed by shooting;
(b) abducting and killing of government officials (deputy magistrate – Saif Mizanur Rahman, sub-divisional police officer – Foyezur Rahman Ahmed, and sub-divisional officer – Abdur Razzak) of Pirojpur;
(c) identifying and looting the houses and shops of people belonging to the
Awami League
The Awami League, officially known as Bangladesh Awami League, is a major List of political parties in Bangladesh, political party in Bangladesh. The oldest existing political party in the country, the party played the leading role in achievin ...
, Hindu community, and supporters of the War at Parerhat Bazar under Pirojpur Sadar;
(d) leading an operation, accompanied by Pakistan Army, to burn 25 houses of the Hindu community at
Umedpur village (under the jurisdiction of
Indurkani Police Station);
(e) leading the group who abducted three women from the house of Gouranga Saha of Parerhat Bandar and handing them over to the Pakistan army for raping.
Sultan Ahmed Howlader, the fourth prosecution witness in the trial, testified that, during the war, Sayeedi and his associate Moshleuddin confined Bipod Shaha's daughter Vanu Shaha at Parerhat, Pirojpur district and regularly raped her.
Another witness testified that Sayeedi had organised the
Razakar militia, a paramilitary force that aided the Pakistan army at Pirojpur.
The trial saw 28 witnesses for the prosecution and 16 for the defence. In addition, the tribunal received 16 witness statements given to the investigator after the prosecution argued that those witnesses were either dead, or that producing them before the tribunal would incur unreasonable delay or expenditure.
Witness abduction
On 5 November 2012, Sukhranjan Bali, a prosecution witness who instead testified as a defense witness was abducted outside the International Crimes Tribunal allegedly by the
Bangladesh Police.
Human rights group believed it to be a case of
forced disappearance
An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...
. Later, Bali was handed over to India's
Border Security Force.
"The apparent abduction of a witness in a trial at the ICT is a cause for serious concern about the conduct of the prosecution, judges and government," said a spokesperson for Human Rights Watch.
Bali had been expected to counter prosecution allegations about Sayeedi's involvement in the 1971 murder of Bali's brother.
Conviction
The tribunal found Sayeedi guilty in 8 of the 20 charges, including mass killing, rape, arson, looting and force minority Hindus to convert to Islam during 1971. On 28 February 2013, the tribunal sentenced him to death by hanging for two charges among the eight committed during the Independence War of Bangladesh in 1971.
Sayeedi was awarded capital punishment for the offenses as listed in charge numbers 8 and 10. The court refrained from passing any separate sentence of imprisonment for the offences listed in charge numbers 6, 7, 11, 14, 16 and 19 which it said had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. At the same time, the accused was found not guilty to the offenses of crimes against humanity as listed in charge numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20 and was acquitted from the said charges.
Sayeedi's lawyers boycotted the trial and have said that the charges against Sayeedi and others were politically motivated.
[
]
Reactions
Various groups including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat questioned the legitimacy of the tribunal and conviction.
His defence at the trial argued that this was a case of mistaken identity saying that the original perpetrator was a man named Delwar Hossain Shikdar, who had been apprehended and executed by Mukti Bahini troops after the war.
By afternoon on the day of the primary verdict, clashes had erupted across Bangladesh between Islamic activists and police forces. An estimated 100 protesters died countrywide in a series of protests and crackdowns subsequently. According to the BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...
, it marked "The worst day of political violence in Bangladesh in decades".
The Amnesty International
Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says that it has more than ten million members a ...
released a statement on Sayeedi's trial. They noted that the organization neither endorsed the appeals for capital punishment in the case of Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, nor could it affirm that the trials aligned with global benchmarks for impartial legal proceedings. On 2 November 2011, Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch (HRW) is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Headquartered in New York City, the group investigates and reports on issues including War crime, war crimes, crim ...
released a statement urging the Bangladeshi government to address and investigate instances of intimidation and threats against defense lawyers and witnesses involved in cases at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). Furthermore, Human Rights Watch said the proceedings of the trial fell short of international standards and urged a retrial.
''The Economist
''The Economist'' is a British newspaper published weekly in printed magazine format and daily on Electronic publishing, digital platforms. It publishes stories on topics that include economics, business, geopolitics, technology and culture. M ...
'' criticised the trial, stating that the presiding judge had resigned and Sayeedi's death sentence was handed down by three men who had not heard all the witnesses.
Appeal hearings
On 17 September 2014, the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain and comprising a five-member bench, delivered a verdict reducing Sayeedi's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment for war crimes. The judgment reflected varying opinions among the judges.
Travel and media appearances
In 2004, the United States of America Terrorist Screening Center (TSC) added Sayeedi to its No Fly List, established to prevent suspected radicals and terrorists from flying into the US. In July 2006, Sayeedi travelled to the UK to address rallies in London
London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...
and Luton; his entry was cleared by the foreign office
Foreign may refer to:
Government
* Foreign policy, how a country interacts with other countries
* Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in many countries
** Foreign Office, a department of the UK government
** Foreign office and foreign minister
* United ...
. Many British MPs considered his admission to the country to be controversial. In leaked emails reported by ''The Times'', an adviser, Eric Taylor, said that Sayeedi's "previous visits to the UK have been reportedly marred by violence caused by his supporters."
On 13 July 2006, the British journalist Martin Bright released a documentary called ''Who Speaks For Muslims?'' It included Sayeedi and identified him as having extreme views. Sayeedi has a large supporter base within the British Bangladeshi community. He was invited to speak at the East London Mosque on 14 July 2006; the then-secretary general of the Muslim Council of Britain, Muhammad Abdul Bari, supported his invitation.
Death
On 14 August 2023 at 8:40 PM, Sayeedi, aged 83, died at BSMMU after experiencing an alleged cardiac arrest. Following his death, thousands of mourners and supporters assembled outside the hospital premises in a rally. He was buried in his native village, Pirojpur, Barisal.
Selected published books
* Biography of the Hereafter
* The principle of building a corruption free society
* Demands and relevant ideas for banning religion-based politics
* Why I joined Jamaat-e-Islami?
* Islam to suppress terrorism and militancy
* Baby training methods
* Prayers of the Prophet
* Why Qadianis are not Muslims
* The miracle of the Holy Qur'an
* In the land of the blue sea
* My duty on my family
* Open letter
* The easy process of gaining paradise
* The ordeal of faith
* Social life in the light of Hadith
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sayeedi, Delwar Hossain
1940 births
2023 deaths
People from Pirojpur District
Bangladeshi Sunni Muslims
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami politicians
7th Jatiya Sangsad members
8th Jatiya Sangsad members
Bangladeshi people convicted of war crimes
Bangladeshi people convicted of crimes against humanity
Bangladeshi politicians convicted of crimes
Bangladeshi male criminals
Bengali Muslim scholars of Islam
Bangladeshi Sunni Muslim scholars of Islam
21st-century Bengalis
20th-century Bengalis
Prisoners sentenced to death by Bangladesh
People convicted by the International Crimes Tribunal
Bangladeshi people who died in prison custody