Ghulam Azam

Who is Ghulam Azam?

Ghulam Azam is a convicted war criminal of 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War and a retired Islamist political leader. He was the Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh until 2000. Azam opposed the independence of Bangladesh during the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War.

On 15 July 2013 the International Crimes Tribunal found Azam guilty of war crimes such as conspiring, planning, incitement to and complicity in committing genocide and gave him a 90-year prison sentence. The judges unanimously agreed that Azam deserved capital punishment for his activity during Liberation war of Bangladesh but was given a lenient punishment because of his age and health condition.

As a leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami, he led to form the controversial Peace or Shanti Committees which were formed at the time of the Liberation War alongside other pro-Pakistan Bengali leaders. Azam is accused of forming paramilitary groups for the Pakistani Army, including Razakars, and Al-Badr. These militias opposed the Mukti Bahini revolutionaries who fought for the independence of Bangladesh, and also stand accused of war crimes. Azam's citizenship of Bangladesh had been cancelled by the Bangladeshi Government because of his role during the Bangladesh Liberation War. He lived in Bangladesh illegally without any authorised Bangladeshi visa from 1978 to 1994.