Govt to make a single list of freedom fighters

Dhaka, Dec 12 (bdprem.com) – The interim government has moved to make a single list of freedom fighters since the nation does not have a complete list 36 years into independence, officials have said. Governments in the past made four separate lists that are incomplete and are strewn with errors. Allegations have it that many people have resorted to cheating to list their names although they never fought against Pakistani occupation forces in 1971. The caretaker government will now make the list with the names of real freedom fighters, said Abul Kashem Mahbubul Alam, secretary to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. He acknowledged that there are numerous anomalies in the previous lists. "The government is on the way to make the new list," Mahbubul Alam said, adding they would also consider the previous lists. He said their investigation found that many real freedom fighters did not make it to the lists while many who did not fight the war were on them. "It has prompted this government to make a real effort," the secretary said. "We have taken steps to include the real names that were left out." "We will gather reports on the freedom fighters left out from different newspapers. Then we will examine whether a person was really a freedom fighter. If the results are positive that person's name will be added to the new list." The secretary said no previous governments cared to clarify in the documents why they had made more than one list. According to the ministry officials, the work on the first list started in 1980 and continued until 1986. Some 100,000 freedom fighters were enrolled in the first list titled 'Muktijoddhader Jatiya Talika' (National list of freedom fighters). The second list prepared by Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust in 1988-1989 with the names of 79,833 freedom fighters. In 1994-95, the then BNP-led administration prepared the third one, 'Voter Suchak' (voter index), with the names of 86,000 people. The Awami League government prepared the final one, 'Mukti Barta' (Message of freedom), during its 1996-2001 term. Some 186,790 people got enrolled as freedom fighters in the list. As many as 126,308 people have been awarded certificates as freedom fighters by the ministry, the officials said. Of them, the latest BNP-led coalition government awarded certificates to 125,401 freedom fighters while two subsequent caretaker governments led by Iajuddin Ahmed and Fakhruddin Ahmed gave out another 907 certificates.