Gono Adalat (people's court) was a mock trial held to Bangladesh of those responsible for the

1971 Bangladesh Genocide The genocide in Bangladesh began on 25 March 1971 with the launch of Operation Searchlight, as the government of Pakistan, dominated by West Pakistan, began a military crackdown on East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) to suppress Bengali peopl ...

. It was not an official trial and did not have any legal basis but was widely popular. The Bangladesh Nationalist Party led government filed cases against the organizers of the Gono Adalat which were withdrawn by the next caretaker government. The trial was led by

Jahanara Imam Jahanara Imam (3 May 1929 – 26 June 1994) was a Bangladeshi writer and political activist. She is known for her efforts to bring those accused of committing war crimes in the Bangladesh Liberation War to trial. She has been called "Shaheed Ja ...

History

and other activists created the

Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee The Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee is a pressure group founded to demand the trial of war criminals from Bangladesh Liberation War. It advocates for secularism in Bangladesh. History Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee was founded on ...

on 19 January 1992. The committee campaigned for the trails of collaborators of Pakistan Army who have accused of involvement in the Bangladesh Genocide during the Bangladesh Liberation war in 1971. On 26 March 1992, the Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee established the Gono Adalat to hold public mock trials of the alleged collaborators. The movement began after

Ghulam Azam Ghulam Azam ( bn, গোলাম আযম; 7 November 192223 October 2014) was a Bangladeshi Islamist politician. He was the former leader of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the largest Islamist political party in Bangladesh. Azam was arrested b ...

was appointed the head of

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জামায়াতে ইসলামী, Bānglādēsh Jāmāyatē Islāmī, Bangladesh Islamic Assembly), previously known as Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, or Jamaat for short, was ...

in December 1991. The court tried Ghulam Azam, found him guilty and sentenced him to death. The court held trials in Suhrawardy Udyan, the site of the surrender of Pakistani forces at the end of Bangladesh Liberation war. Former Supreme Court Justice

Debesh Bhattacharya Debesh Chandra Bhattacharya (3 November 1914 2 February 2004) was a Bangladeshi jurist who served at Bangladesh High Court and later at the Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court. Early life Bhattacharya was born on 3 November 1914 in ...

was a member of the Gono Adalat.

Reception

The Government of Bangladesh, then formed by

Bangladesh Nationalist Party The Bangladesh Nationalist Party ( bn, বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী দল, Bangladesh Jātīyotābādī Dol; BNP) is a centre-right to right-wing nationalist, political party in Bangladesh and one of the major ...

, was against the Gona Adalat. It filed charges against 28 organizers including Jahanara Imam and Shahriar Kabir over the Gono Adalat. The neutral Caretaker Government led by Justice

Habibur Rahman Habib ur Rahman ( ar, حبیب الرحمان , link=no) is an Arabic male given name, meaning ''friend of the Merciful One''. It may refer to: *Habib Ur Rehman (Nayab Sahab; Born 1957), Indian politician. *Hakim Habibur Rahman (1881–1947), Unan ...

withdrew the charges against them in 1995. The Bangladesh Nationalist party was politically aligned with the Islamist

party. The Gono Adalat had the support of the then opposition party,

Awami League In Urdu language, Awami is the adjectival form for '' Awam'', the Urdu language word for common people. The adjective appears in the following proper names: *Awami Colony, a neighbourhood of Landhi Town in Karachi, Sindh, Pakistan *Awami Front, wa ...

. The verdicts of the Gono Adalat were endorsed by 16 non-governmental organizations. In May 2016, the prosecution of the

International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) The International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh) (ICT of 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 their local col ...

dedicated a verdict to the founder of Gono Adalat Jahanara Imam.

References

1992 establishments in Bangladesh Organisations based in Dhaka Political movements in Bangladesh {{Bangladesh-org-stub