The movement of the Nirmul Committee: How did a civil society movement transform into an organization in Bangladesh, promoting the spirit of the liberation war in 1971?

Abstract

The liberation war and the trial of war crimes constitute a significant place in the academic discourse and the historical narrative in Bangladesh. The war crimes trial started in 2010, and the key accused war criminals were sentenced by the International Crimes Tribunal (Bangladesh). However, the path to initiating the trial of war criminals has been challenging as the trial started after a long period of independence. In 1992 a group of 101 civil society members under the leadership of Jahanara Imam started a movement named Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee and demanded to bring collaborators of 1971 to trial. Even though one of the primary demands of the Nirmul Committee movement has been met through the trials of war criminals, the committee is currently seeking to highlight its relevance as an organization in establishing a secular state. This thesis is based on primary and secondary sources as well as interviews with some important members who are still involved with the movement. This paper aims to look back at the long journey of the Nirmul committee and how it became an organization from movement. It discusses the impact of the Nirmul Committee movement on Jamaat politics across the country and the movement's diverse activities that contributed to its transformation as an organization. This thesis argues that the movement of the Nirmul Committee was not just to demand the trial of war criminals, but it was a movement to build a secular country in accordance with the first constitution of Bangladesh. Consequently, this movement not only reinforced the historical narrative that supports secular principles, which, in their view, had their roots in the war for independence but also strongly contested its opposing narrative, which is religious nationalism predominantly promoted by the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI).