The body of Manik Pashari, a freedom fighter and key witness in the crimes against humanity case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, has been buried under police guard in Pirojpur after a delay of 15 hours.
Pashari, 87, was buried around 2am on Sunday in Chitolia village in Shankarpasha Union of Pirojpur Sadar Upazila, said Md Shariful Islam, chief of Pirojpur Sadar Police Station.
His relatives alleged that Jamaat leaders had obstructed the state honours due to him as a freedom fighter and opposed his burial in Pirojpur.
With the assistance of Pirojpur district police, the body was taken to the police lines.
He was given a guard of honour there around 5pm on Saturday, after which the body was kept under security.
Around 1am on Sunday, relatives took the body to their home in Chitolia village with the assistance of Sadar Police.
Police then ensured his burial around 2am in the presence of his wife and children.
Pashari's sister, Mosammat Rina Akter, said: “My brother has died. We initially brought him to Pirojpur for burial. When we could not bury him, we were left in a difficult situation.”
Around noon on Saturday, relatives brought Pashari's body to the Pirojpur Sadar Upazila council premises.
They faced obstruction from district Jamaat leaders and activists, according to the family.
Faruk Hossain, Pashari's son-in-law, said Pashari had taken shelter with him in the Tungipara area of Gopalganj after Aug 5, 2024. He had been suffering from illness for two months and died around 10am on Saturday.
“When we brought him to the Pirojpur Sadar Upazila council auditorium at around noon for a guard of honour, we faced obstruction. He was a gazetted freedom fighter. Later, police secretly gave him a guard of honour inside the police lines and handed the body over to the family,” Faruk said.
At the time, Pirojpur district Jamaat Assistant Secretary Abdur Razzak said Pashari was a “fake” freedom fighter and would not be allowed to receive a guard of honour or be buried in Pirojpur.
Jamaat leaders were also stationed at several important locations across the town.
However, after the burial, Razzak denied that the party had obstructed it.
“Neither the leaders of Pirojpur district Jamaat nor those of its affiliated organisations created any obstruction to Manik Pashari's burial,” he said.
“Jamaat's leaders do not engage in the politics of the dead. We fully cooperated with Pirojpur Sadar Police to complete the burial.”
Masud Sayedee, son of Sayedee, also wrote in a Facebook post that he had no objection to Pashari's funeral prayers or burial.
“Our objection was to giving a 'guard of honour' to a fake freedom fighter. Although the administration, through falsehood and forgery, secretly gave a guard of honour to someone who had obtained the status of a freedom fighter fraudulently,” he wrote.
Sayedee, a former deputy chief of Jamaat, was sentenced to imprisonment until death for crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War. Pashari was an important witness in the case.
Sayedee died while receiving treatment in custody on the night of Aug 14, 2023.
Officer Shariful said Pashari's burial had been completed under police protection. Police personnel had been deployed near the grave to prevent any untoward incident.