As a country of liberty and freedom, our greatest hope at its preservation is in upholding justice. It follows then, that if war criminal Chowdhury Mueen Uddin is known to be living among us, he should not be entitled to the same privileges afforded every British citizen. It is our sacred duty to enforce our laws not only to gain justice for those he brutally murdered, but to ensure the preservation of our just and democratic way of life. Please join us in doing the right thing, and let the British Government know that we collectively say "NO! to this convicted killer and demand his extradition to Bangladesh."

Chowdhury Mueenuddin’s role in Bangladesh Genocide

In March 1971, Chowdhury Mueenuddin, a journalist at the Daily Purbodesh, was an active member of the Islami Chaatra Sangha (ICS) – the student wing of the Jammat-e-Islami which actively opposed Bangladesh liberation war and aided the Pakistani military.

In August 1971, the Jamaat-e-Islami, according to its own newspaper the Daily Sangram, set up the Al-Badr Squad comprising members of the ICS to violently combat the forces supporting Bangladesh’s liberation. Mueenuddin became a member of the Al-Badr.

EVIDENCES

In 1995, in a Channel 4 documentary(6), researchers presented a series of evidence and eyewitnesses that directly implicated Chowdhury Mueenuddin as the leader of the gang in at least two disappearances and killings, and one attempted disappearance.

Abduction and disappearance of Mofazzal Haider Chaudhury, Dhaka University Professor of Bengali. A family member present at the scene states: “they stormed into the house brandishing guns and with gamchas over their faces. While being taken away, [Prof Chaudhury] pulled down the gamcha from one of the men’s faces, I recognised him immediately. It was Mueenuddin; I knew him because he used to come to our house to study.”

Abduction and disappearance of Serajuddin Hossain, Journalist Serajuddin Hossain’s wife identified Chowdhury Mueenuddin as one of the men who took her husband.

Attempted Abduction of Ataus Samad, BBC Journalist It is known that Mueenuddin was involved in attempting to abduct BBC journalist Ataus Samad. Two tenants were woken up by a gang of men and saw the faces of the leader. After independence, when a photograph of Mueenuddin’s face was published they both recognised him as the man leading the abductions, that night.

Case Filed in Bangladesh with subsequent case statements by the intelligence agency:Farida Banu, younger sister of Professor Giasuddin Ahmed, filed a case in this connection with Ramna Police Station in Bangladesh on September 24, 1997 against two Al-Badr cadres–Chowdhury Mueenuddin and Ashrafuzzaman–for killing her brother on December 14 in 1971, resulting in a police investigation by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). The investigation report named Mueenuddin as one of the prime accused in relation to abduction and disappearance of eight Dhaka University professors on that night including Prof Ahmed. According to the case statement, on 14 December 1971, Al-Badr members Mueenuddin and Ashrafuzzaman picked up Giasuddin Ahmed from Muhsin Hall premises, blindfolded him and whisked him in a microbus to an undisclosed location. He never came back.

Newspaper reports immediately after the intellectual killings naming Mueenuddin as the prime suspect based on confessions by captured Al-Badr leaders.

Bangladesh Observer reported on December 29th, 1971, “Chowdhury Mainuddin, a member of the banned fanatic Jamaat-e-Islami, has been described as the “operation-in-charge” of the killing of intellectuals in Dhaka by Abdul Khaleq, a captured ring leader of the Al-Badr and office bearer of the Jamaat-e-Islami.”

New York Times reports on 2 January 2 1972 – “to his fellow reporters on the Bengali-language paper where he worked, Chowdhury Mueenuddin was a pleasant, well-mannered and intelligent young man…there was nothing exceptional about him except perhaps that he often received telephone calls from the leader of a right-wing Moslem political party. But, investigations in the last few days show that those calls were significant. For Mr. Mueenuddin has been identified as the head of a secret, commando like organization of fanatic Moslems that murdered several hundred prominent Bengali professors, doctors, lawyer and journalists in a Dhaka brick yard. Dressed in black sweaters and khaki pants, members of the group, known as Al-Badar, rounded up their victims on the last three nights of the war…Their goal, captured members have since said, was to wipe out all Bengali intellectuals who advocated independence from Pakistan and the creation a of a secular, non Moslem state.”

Mueenuddin’s Post Independence Rehabilitation in the United Kingdom

Soon after the war, Mueenuddins’s involvement in the intellectual killings came to light and several newspapers including the New York Times published articles alleging that he was the Operation-in-Charge of the killings. Although the authorities sought Mueenuddin’s arrest in connection with these allegations, he however managed to evade arrest and investigation, and travelled to the UK where he ultimately obtained residence and nationality without disclosing his past antecedents. Once in London, along with other members of the Jamaat-e-Islami who had escaped to London, he set up the Dawatul Islam which was in effect the UK front of the Jamaat. A split subsequently took place amongst the leadership of Dawatul Islam, and Mueenuddin then established Islamic Forum Europe, which continues to be the UK front of the Jamaat-e-Islami. As recently as November, 2007, Islamic Forum Europe invited the head of Jamaat-e-Islami, Matiur Rahman Nizami, another alleged war criminal, from Bangladesh to their events as special guests. Mueenuddin’s base was however East London Mosque – and he became its Vice Chairman in the 1990s. Till this day he is Vice-Chair of this mosque. Mueenuddin also became active as Treasurer (former Chairman) of Muslim Aid UK, Deputy Director of Leicester based Islamic Foundation; and the Special Editor of Weekly Dawat. Chowdhury Mueenuddin’s rehabilitation continued as Government decided to engage with Muslim Council of Britain in the name of engaging with Muslims. In 2003, Prince Charles visited Islamic Foundation headed by Mueen-Uddin.