Noting that the current ruling party Bangladesh Awami League, which led the great liberation war, has made a mistake in recognizing 'enemy-ally' in the past, retired judge of the Appellate Division of Bangladesh Supreme Court and brave freedom fighter AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik said that the party needs radical reform. Weeds inside the party need to be removed.

He made this comment criticizing the organizational weakness of the ruling party in the unprecedented vandalism and casualties across the country surrounding the quota movement. Apart from teaching constitutional law at London University in retirement, he has been involved in various cultural and intellectual activities including liberation war, war crimes trial in Bangladesh.

Justice Manik, advisor to the 1971 Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, is also active as a media commentator and columnist on contemporary issues. Ashraful Islam, Planning Editor of Barta24.com has taken an exclusive interview of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik on recent issues.

Barta24.com: After the unprecedented incidents of vandalism and casualties around the quota reform movement across the country, ruling party Awami League is questioning its failure to prevent it. There are allegations that the leaders of the party who led the liberation war did not remain in the field despite the organizational expansion up to the marginal stage. How do you see the issue as a supporter of the liberation war from a place of self-criticism?

Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik: In this regard, it must be said that the identification of enemy and friend is wrong. Who is the enemy, who is the friend - I either failed to identify, or deliberately did not identify. Those people who are really against the spirit of liberation war have been allowed inside the party (Awami League). Their ancestors were really Razakars-Al-badars. It was against the spirit of the liberation war. They are mainly supporters of Shibir-Jamaat and the BNP. We have given them free entry... join our party as you wish. But corruption also worked here. But many have been given titles in exchange for money. There is no way to deny them. They have been nominated by Awami League in various levels of elections. We did not judge. Then there are many people in the administration and the police who are against the spirit of the liberation war. We did not notice them. We have empowered them in abundance. Those who are against the liberation war by heart...sadly the ancestors were investigated but not done as it should have been done. There are some generations who feel that their ancestors made a mistake. The new people, whose ancestors were in favor of the liberation war, participated in the war, but we could not express the events of the liberation war in that way. What kind of war crimes have Pakistanis committed, what atrocities have they committed on common people and women.

Barta24.com: Is ideology in need of renewal? Awami League did not feel that?

Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik: It is. But they (liberation generation) must be told. They have to say with documents, not just verbally. It should be shown with documents that how the Pakistani soldiers and their supporters Al-badr, Al-Shams-Razakar have tortured the people in our country in 1971, they should understand them. Three days ago, a Professor of History sent me an e-mail and said that in their time, nothing was ever reported about 71. On the other hand, the Jamaat-Shibir people have been continuously talking about their ideals from house to house since the 1970s. Their women have been going to different houses and propagating the ideals of Jamaat. As a result their number has increased a lot. They never wanted to break up a religion based state called Pakistan and establish a secular non-communal state. Therein lays our failure. We (liberation war people) thought that people would already know everything. But that is not the case. There are many people who have entered into us, but those who are there are not pure. There are many people, scattered, who carry the ideals of the Razakars. But that number is not less. They are using their ideologies from positions of power in different places.

Barta24.com: But why Awami League could not develop this ideology and consciousness among the general public after being in power for a decade and a half and leading the liberation war?

Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik: Because, they have forgotten. I think they are busier with their own interests now. They have forgotten the ideology for which they fought in 1971. They think it will go on forever. Many of them do not seem to have taught their children much about the liberation war either. If it seems like this kind of incident would not happen.

Barta24.com: The movement could have been resolved through discussion in the beginning. This discussion is also gaining importance in various circles. How would you rate…

Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik: Those who said this, they are talking nonsense. I am saying this because, see what they (quota activists) want - the government is asking for that. The government appealed against the High Court verdict because it wanted to reform the quota. So in that sense it was not necessary to get in their way. But they came down for another purpose. Ordinary students did not understand the matter. They have been executed. Actually Jamaat-Shibir and BNP were behind it from the beginning. They managed it. Jamaat and Shibir     blueprints, however, are nothing new—very old. The first few days were stealthy, did not make a debut. Seeing the movement of the students, they entered at the opportunity. In time they unmasked. If they were not behind, the students' movement would not have reached such an end where the government is speaking for them. There was no need since the day the movement came down. The government has clearly said that the matter is within the jurisdiction of the court. It's true. The country is governed by the constitution. The government had no power to ignore the judgment of the Appellate Division and do anything else. Then it would have been a government that destroyed the constitution. That would not be a democratic government.

Barta24.com: Initially the movement was peaceful. How did it turn into violence?

Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik: Students did not understand the violence, they were misled. Shibir-BNP-Jamaat, they explained. They had nothing to do with the quota issue; their only intention was to bring down this government in the streets. They have been doing this since day one. If it was a peaceful movement then this would not have happened. It has become a movement of unrest for two days. Do you call blocking the road peaceful? Traffic stopped..it cannot be called a peaceful movement by any explanation. I will say, the police have shown a lot of patience. It is the moral responsibility of the police to protect peace and protect people's lives and property. Fulfilling that responsibility means resisting them. But police and RAB forces have shown a lot of patience. At first they did not go into action. Where the roads were blocked and the entire country was immobilized. If the police had gone into action there it would have been justified. The thing is, did the people doing it know what they wanted? They don't care about quotas at all, their motives are different. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, "The situation will not be calm until the government falls". What do they want Rizvi, Saki, Jadu Mia's daughters - all Razakar's descendants are very clear about what they are saying. What a shameless statement, 'You are who I am, Razakar Razakar / The soil of Bangladesh is the base of Razakar'. Under no circumstances can we people who support the spirit of the liberation war tolerate the unbearable things they are saying about the liberation war.

Barta24.com: What is the way out of this ongoing situation? I see a kind of confusion among the people about the whole issue...

Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik: Confusion started, it was cleared by the judgment of the Appellate Division. After the judgment of the Appellate Division, everyone understands that it was not up to the government. But the people are not ignorant. Thousands of crores worth of assets have been destroyed. We were looking at metro rail for many years. There will be metro rail; traffic congestion in Dhaka city will be removed. They destroyed everything. They destroyed BTV. How much else did they destroy? But people are beginning to understand how to overcome this loss. People are welcoming the action of the Army, RAB and BGB. They now understand who are the enemies of the country? But their demand is that they should be tried for the crime of treason. Common people are moving in this direction. So the mistake that was made to the common people is slowly disappearing and will disappear. But ordinary students have also returned home. They realized that they were used by the leaders. Whose pockets are swollen? A lot of money came from abroad. Millions of takas have come. Some businessmen of this country also gave money. After receiving this money, they spent some money on those who participated in the movement. But the rest went into their pockets.

Barta24.com: It has been alleged that there has been a kind of distance between the Awami League leadership and the grassroot workers. It is also becoming clear in a meeting of Dhaka Metropolitan Awami League on Thursday. Has this vacuum played any role in creating anarchy?

Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik: Awami League is the oldest political party in Bangladesh. Like the BNP, Awami League was not born from a military camp. Jamaat is a fanatic group, a group of fanatics. So is Shibir. But the tradition of Awami League as a people's party has gone towards a lot of degradation. Now there are many people with whom the people have no involvement. There are many politicians. The only way out of this is the radical reform of the Awami League; simply put, weeding out the weeds inside the party.