Delwar Hossain Sayeedi

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Allama Delwar Hossain Sayeedi
দেলাওয়ার হোসাইন সাঈদী
Delwar Hossain Sayeedi
Member of Parliament
In office 14 July 1996 – 27 October 2006
Preceded by	Gazi Nuruzzaman Babul
Succeeded by	A. K. M. A. Awal Saydur Rahman
Constituency	Pirojpur-1
Nayeb-e-Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami
In office 2009 – 14 August 2023
Ameer	Motiur Rahman Nizami Maqbul Ahmed Dr Shafiqur Rahman
Personal details
Born	(1940-02-02)2 February 1940 Spiritual Leader

Delwar Hossain Sayeedi (2 February 1940 – 14 August 2023), widely known as Allama Sayeedi, was a Bangladeshi Islamic leader,^[1][2] politician, scholar and public speaker who served as a Member of Parliament representing Pirojpur-1 constituency from 1996 to 2006.^[3][4] Before entering into politics, Sayeedi was known for delivering Islamic lectures around various Waz Mahfils across the country with large audiences. Due to his role as a mufassir, Sayeedi received appraisals by the Saudi Arabian Chief Imam Sheikh Sudais, the President of the Affairs of the Two Holy Mosques.

In 2013, the newly established International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Bangladesh accused him guilty on eight out of twenty counts, which included murder and religious persecution.^[5]

Various human rights groups have acknowledged that the tribunal fell short of international standards and the hearings were biased against the Sayeedi's party.^[6] The verdict, which condemned him to death, generated significant domestic and international attention, leading to both support and criticism.^[7][8][9] The verdict subsequently led to public protests and clashes between his supporters, opponents, and law enforcement agencies, resulting in a series of riots and unrest.^[10]

The Economist criticised the trial, mentioning the government's manipulative judicial system, staged public interference, restrictions on public discussion, not sufficient time allocated for the defence, the kidnapping of a defence witness and the resignation of a judge due to 2012 ICT Skype controversy.^[11]

In September 2014, the Supreme Court commuted his sentence to life imprisonment.^[12][13][14] His trial was further criticized by several international organizations including Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International.

Sayeedi died on 14 August 2023 at the age of 83 due to a cardiac arrest.^[15]

Sayeedi received his first primary religious education at his local village madrassa, which was built by his father.^[16] Sayeedi attended the Sarsina Alia Madrasah in 1962, followed by the Khulna Alia Madrasah.^[16]

Before venturing into politics, Sayeedi earned widespread recognition for his Islamic lectures, which he delivered at numerous waz mahfils (religious gatherings) across the country. These events consistently drew large audiences.

Sayeedi joined Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami in 1979. He became a Rukon of Jamaat in 1982 and a Shura member of Majlis in 1989. In 1996, he became a member of the executive council of Jamaat. He served as Naib Amir of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami from 2009 till his death.^[17]

Having gained recognition, Sayeedi was elected as a member of parliament for constituency Pirojpur-1 in the June 1996 and 2001 national elections of Bangladesh.^[18]

Later, he was accused of, and later convicted of, committing arson, sexual violence and murder during the

Critics point out that no DNA testing was conducted and some locals denied that he was involved.[19] His family claims that he was not in Pirojpur at the time and lived in the New Market area of Jessore.^[20][16] Sayeedi and his family, then fled Jessore looking for safety and stayed at the house of a pir for about two weeks from around 1 April 1971. After that, the Sayeedi family took refuge in another village, Mohiron, under Bagharpara in Jessore at the house of Roushan Ali.^[20]

On 22 March 2012, the Bangladesh government established the

Sayeedi was accused of involvement in numerous crimes, including the killing of over 50 individuals, arson, rape, looting, and coercion of Hindus to convert to Islam.^[23]

On 24 July 2009, immigration officials at

On 12 August 2009, Manik Poshari filed a case in Pirojpur against Delwar Hossain Sayeedi and four others.[27] His accusations dated to events during the 1971 Bangladeshi war of independence.

Mahbubul Alam Howladar, a former pro-independence fighter, and now a member and deputy commander of the pro-independence fighters association called Zianagor upazila Muktijoddha Sangsad, filed charges against Sayeedi with the Pirojpur senior judicial magistrate's court in Zianagar.^[28]

The war crime trials of Sayeedi began on 20 November 2011 at the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh. The tribunal charged him with twenty counts of crimes against humanity, including murder, rape and arson, during the independence war.^[29] Some of the charges were (a) passing secret information on the gathering of people behind the Madhya Masimpur bus-stand to the Pakistan Army, and leading the Army there, where 20 unnamed people were killed by shooting; (b) abducting and killing of government officials (deputy magistrate – Saif Mizanur Rahman, sub-divisional police officer – Foyezur Rahman Ahmed, and sub-divisional officer – Abdur Razzak) of Pirojpur; (c) identifying and looting the houses and shops of people belonging to the Awami League, Hindu community, and supporters of the War at Parerhat Bazar under Pirojpur Sadar; (d) leading an operation, accompanied by Pakistan Army, to burn 25 houses of the Hindu community at Umedpur village (under the jurisdiction of Indurkani Police Station); (e) leading the group who abducted three women from the house of Gouranga Saha of Parerhat Bandar and handing them over to the Pakistan army for raping.^{[30][31][32][33]}

Sultan Ahmed Howlader, the fourth prosecution witness in the trial, testified that, during the war, Sayeedi and his associate Moshleuddin confined Bipod Shaha's daughter Vanu Shaha at Parerhat, Pirojpur district and regularly raped her.^[30][33] Another witness testified that Sayeedi had organised the Razakar militia, a paramilitary force that aided the Pakistan army at Pirojpur.^[34]

The trial saw 28 witnesses for the prosecution and 16 for the defence. In addition, the tribunal received 16 witness statements given to the investigator after the prosecution argued that those witnesses were either dead, or that producing them before the tribunal would incur unreasonable delay or expenditure.^[35]

On 5 November 2012, Sukhranjan Bali, a prosecution witness who instead testified as a defense witness was abducted outside the International Crimes Tribunal allegedly by the

The tribunal found Sayeedi guilty in 8 of the 20 charges, including mass killing, rape, arson, looting and force minority Hindus to convert to Islam during 1971. On 28 February 2013, the tribunal sentenced him to death by hanging for two charges among the eight committed during the Independence War of Bangladesh in 1971.[8]^[10][39]

Sayeedi was awarded capital punishment for the offenses as listed in charge numbers 8 and 10. The court refrained from passing any separate sentence of imprisonment for the offences listed in charge numbers 6, 7, 11, 14, 16 and 19 which it said had been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. At the same time, the accused was found not guilty to the offenses of crimes against humanity as listed in charge numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 9, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 20 and was acquitted from the said charges.^[40][41] Sayeedi's lawyers boycotted the trial and have said that the charges against Sayeedi and others were politically motivated.^[39][42]

Various groups including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat questioned the legitimacy of the tribunal and conviction.^[43][44]

His defence at the trial argued that this was a case of mistaken identity saying that the original perpetrator was a man named Delwar Hossain Shikdar,^[19] who had been apprehended and executed by Mukti Bahini troops after the war.^[35][20]

By afternoon on the day of the primary verdict, clashes had erupted across Bangladesh between Islamic activists and police forces. An estimated 100 protesters died countrywide in a series of protests and crackdowns subsequently.^{[45][46][47][48]} According to the BBC, it marked "The worst day of political violence in Bangladesh in decades".^[49]

The Amnesty International released a statement on Sayeedi's trial. They noted that the organization neither endorsed the appeals for capital punishment in the case of Delwar Hossain Sayeedi, nor could it affirm that the trials aligned with global benchmarks for impartial legal proceedings.^[50] On 2 November 2011, Human Rights Watch released a statement urging the Bangladeshi government to address and investigate instances of intimidation and threats against defense lawyers and witnesses involved in cases at the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT). Furthermore, Human Rights Watch said the proceedings of the trial fell short of international standards and urged a retrial.^[51]

The Economist criticised the trial, stating that the presiding judge had resigned and Sayeedi's death sentence was handed down by three men who had not heard all the witnesses.^[52]

On 17 September 2014, the Appellate Division of the Bangladesh Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain and comprising a five-member bench, delivered a verdict reducing Sayeedi's sentence from the death penalty to life imprisonment for war crimes. The judgment reflected varying opinions among the judges.^[53][54]

In 2004, the United States of America