Complications Over Burial of Freedom Fighter Manik Pashari, Plaintiff in Sayeedi Case, as Women of Family Dig Grave

Complications have arisen over the burial of freedom fighter Manik Pashari, the complainant against the late Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayeedi in a crimes-against-humanity case, after Pashari's death. At last, preparations for the burial are under way, and women of the family have been reported to have come forward to dig the grave.

Manik Pashari (87) was a resident of Ward No. 4 of Chitalia village under Shankarpasha Union of Pirojpur Sadar upazila.

Family members said he died at about 10am on Saturday (24 October) at a relative's home in the Tungipara area of Gopalganj. He had been staying there after living in hiding for a long time.

According to the family, after 5 August 2024 Manik Pashari took shelter with his son-in-law in Tungipara, Gopalganj. For the last two months he had been suffering from physical illness.

After his death, his body was brought to Pirojpur on Saturday afternoon. When the body was taken to the Sadar Upazila Parishad premises to be given a guard of honour with state honours, local Jamaat leaders and activists gathered there.

Later, obstruction arose over the burial of the body and the giving of the guard of honour, local sources said.

Considering the situation, the ambulance carrying the body was taken under police guard to Pirojpur Police Lines. Citing security reasons, journalists and others were barred from entering there.

Later, police and the administration said Manik Pashari had been given a guard of honour. However, no detailed information was available on when and where he was given that honour.

Family members alleged that they remained in anxiety because they did not receive the necessary cooperation from the administration over the burial. Manik Pashari's son-in-law Faruk Hossain said that when they went to the Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer at about 12 noon, they were told to wait until 5pm, speaking of the guard of honour.

He alleged that after the body was kept for a long time in an ordinary ambulance, the guard of honour was given in secret. After that, the family fell into uncertainty over where the body would be buried.

Local sources claimed that after the body was handed over to the family, when an initiative was taken to bury him at his own home, some local leaders, activists and supporters again gathered and obstructed it. Gatherings of people were also reported at various points on the way from Police Lines to Shankarpasha.

Meanwhile, after a day of uncertainty and complications over the burial, preparations are finally being made to bury Manik Pashari. His sister Mosammat Rina Akter said her brother has died. At first they brought him for burial. But because they could not bury him, they fell into difficulty. Now they are making preparations for the burial and digging the grave.

On this matter, Pirojpur district Jamaat Assistant Secretary Abdur Razzak said they claim Manik Pashari was a fake freedom fighter. He also commented that he would not be allowed to be given a guard of honour in any way, and his body would not be allowed to be buried in the soil of Pirojpur.

Pirojpur Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Md. Shariful Islam said Manik Pashari has been given a guard of honour. Further legal action on this matter is under process. Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) Md. Iftekharul Islam Shamim also said Manik Pashari was given a guard of honour with state honours.

Notably, on 12 August 2009 Manik Pashari filed a case at Pirojpur Police Station against five people including Delawar Hossain Sayeedi, alleging crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. Later the case was joined with the main case against Sayeedi at the International Crimes Tribunal. It is around the final farewell of the plaintiff in that historic case that this complication and controversy have now arisen.