Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan on wednesday said in Parliament that the official recognitions of some 481 non-freedom fighters were cancelled since August 2024 following recommendations from the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (Jamuka).
“Based on complaints, the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council conducted verification and investigations, and following its recommendations, the gazette notifications, Lal Muktibarta and Indian lists of 481 individuals have been cancelled by the ministry,” he said.
The minister made the remarks while replying to questions from NCP lawmaker Akhter Hossen (Rangpur-4) and ruling party lawmaker Md Jahander Ali Miah (Madaripur-2) during the question-and-answer session in the House today.
In his question, Akhter Hossen asked whether any steps would be taken against alleged fake freedom fighters, noting that various media reports and government reviews suggest that out of around 250,000 gazetted freedom fighters, more than 100,000 are fake freedom fighters.
The Liberation War Affairs Minister said that since August 2024, a total of 842 complaints related to non-freedom fighters have been forwarded to Jamuka for scrutiny.
He explained that when allegations are received, a subcommittee formed with members of the council conduct investigations and hearings. “If an individual is proven not to be a genuine freedom fighter, recommendations are made to cancel their gazette status,”
Ahmed Azam said the process of reviewing such complaints is ongoing and it is a regular function of Jamuka. “If any allegation is raised against a listed freedom fighter, it will be verified through investigation and hearing, and if proven false, the name will be recommended for removal from the list,” he added.
The minister also informed the House that since its establishment, Jamuka has held 103 meetings and recommended cancellation of gazette status for a total of 6,465 persons.
In reply to a starred question from treasury bench member AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon (Noakhali-1), the minister said there are currently 198,037 recognized freedom fighters in the country, according to the integrated database maintained in the ministry’s Management Information System (MIS).
He further said that each freedom fighter receives a monthly honorarium of Tk 20,000, two festival allowances of each Tk 10,000 annually and a Pohela Boishakh allowance of Tk 2,000 and also a Victory Day allowance of Tk 5,000 for living freedom fighters.
The minister, however, said that there is currently no plan under the government’s consideration to increase the honorarium for freedom fighters.
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
