Tribunal Two Takes Shape as Adviser Declares Crackdown on ‘Fascist Awami League’
Mahfuz Alam, Adviser to the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, announced on Thursday that provisions will be introduced to hold political parties accountable, specifically mentioning a forthcoming trial of the “Fascist Awami League.” He further revealed that a second International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-2) is being formed to expedite the judicial process.
He made the announcement in a post on his verified Facebook profile on Thursday evening, which garnered over 10,000 reactions and more than 250 shares within just thirty minutes.
In a parallel development, the government has officially constituted the International Crimes Tribunal-2, appointing former High Court Division Justice Nazrul Islam Chowdhury as its Chair. According to a notification issued by the Law and Justice Division, the tribunal has been formed in consideration of the growing number of complaints and accused, the need for speedy justice, and the current workload of the existing tribunal. Retired District and Sessions Judges Md. Manjurul Bashid and Noor Mohammad Shahriar Kabir, currently serving in Madaripur, have been appointed as members of ICT-2.
Additionally, the existing tribunal—previously unnamed—comprising Justice Md. Golam Mortuza Mojumdar, Justice Shafiul Alam Mahmud, and retired District Judge Mohitul Haque Enam Chowdhury, has now been officially designated as International Crimes Tribunal-1.
Earlier in the day, in another Facebook post titled “Explanation or Reality”, Adviser Mahfuz Alam wrote: “Power is distributed among many centers. As a result, the government bears the responsibility for actions that are actually executed by other power centers. Democratic transformation cannot be achieved through patchwork solutions, nor can a new political arrangement be established this way. Political parties have ceased to play a collaborative role since December. Yet, they continue to hold stakes in administration, judiciary, and the police. The establishment is committed to returning to a bipartisan loop and sidelining student involvement.”
He added, “Out of nearly three dozen appointments, only two are students. Since the removal of the student representatives by the establishment and the President, student leaders have been marginalized. We two are doing our utmost balancing act, but to be impactful, the government must ensure fair student representation. The student community has become fragmented and is being treated like traditional political parties. That is why the Citizen Committee was a more sustainable force for the long-term uprising. Meanwhile, the anti-discrimination student movement platform has failed to organize students nationwide. The student-public front for the uprising is divided and hesitant.”
Mahfuz Alam continued, “Both military and civilian bureaucracies have been compromised. The League’s dominance in media and business remains unshaken. Its political economy has not been dismantled. The old bipartisan arrangement persists. The judiciary remains trapped in a two-party cycle. Cultural conflicts between the Left and Right have weakened the momentum of July and fossilized the Shahbagh-Shapla divide. The Right made political miscalculations and reacted emotionally to the new reality, while the Left has failed to play a robust role in supporting the uprising, remaining skeptical of the government from the beginning.”
He observed, “The most dedicated student activists have fallen prey to credit-seeking, factionalism, and quorum politics. Though financial irregularities are limited to a few, the entire student body has been demoralized. The student-public force has failed to build supportive institutions or a new civil society in favor of the uprising. They hold no share in the state, the establishment, political economy, or political alliances. Stakeholders, including the government, have failed in addressing justice and compensating the martyrs and wounded. The uprising has not expanded beyond the urban centers. The self-serving conduct of the establishment and political parties, along with the students’ inexperience and lack of vision, are to blame.”
He concluded: “Ultimately, the establishment is waiting to return to a bipartisan arrangement minus the students. Students, already partially at odds, have been discarded. The solution? Ensuring the rightful share of students in state and establishment affairs, and uniting against fascist forces and their agents. The prerequisites for this are restoring honesty, ideology, dedication, and unity among students, and rendering the agents of the old arrangement ineffective.”
