In an apparent move to try the largest Islamic party which allegedly collaborated with the Pakistani forces in 1971 to prevent an independent Bangladesh, the South Asian country's parliament Sunday adopted amendment to a law.
This means two war crimes tribunals, set up to try those allegedly commiting war crimes during the country's nine-month liberation war, are now in a position to try and punish an organization for committing crimes against humanity in 1971.
The amendment which was adopted in the absence of ex-Prime Minister Khaleda Zia's Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) also brought some other changes to International Crimes (Tribunals) Act 1973 to pave the way for plaintiffs to appeal to the apex court against verdicts delivered by the tribunals.
Previously the law allowed only the convicts to appeal against any conviction.
In the wake of a mass movement in Dhaka's Shahbagh Square, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government brought the amendment to the act.
The bill got the parliament nod hours after Law Minister Shafique Ahmed said "the government is looking at options" to ban Jamaat-e-Islami Party, one of the key demands of Shahbagh rally.
After visiting house of a slain blogger in Dhaka on Saturday, Hasina said Jamaat and its students wing -- Islami Chhatra Shibir - - have no right to practise politics in Bangladesh as they do not believe in democracy and are engaged with politics of terrorism.
Ahmed Rajib Haidar, an activist of ongoing Shahbagh movement, was stabbed near his house on Friday night.
Since then Shahbagh protesters, who point fingers at Jamaat for killing Rajib, have intensified demand to ban Jamaat, which denied any involvement in the murder.
Jamaat Saturday called hartal on Monday as part of its countrywide protest at what it termed the "government-sponsored" rally at Shahbagh Square.
Adamant on their demands including capital punishment on war criminals, thousands of people thronged Shahbagh Square Sunday, chanting slogans that have reverberated the iconic place of Dhaka since Feb. 5.
Frustrated by a war crimes verdict, scores of youths imbued with the spirit of the country's nine-month liberation war first gathered at Shahbagh Square on Feb. 5 under the banner of " Bloggers and Online Activist Network" hours after the International Crimes Tribunal-2 sentenced Abdul Quader Mollah, assistant secretary general of Jamaat, to life imprisonment for his war crimes.
The demonstration soon transformed into a people's movement which already spread across the country and among Bangladeshis living abroad.
Apart from eight Jamaat high-ups, a few leaders of BNP are also facing trials.
Both BNP and Jamaat had earlier dismissed the courts as a government "show trial" and said it is a domestic set-up without UN oversight.
Jamaat threatened to escalate the armed struggle if Hasina's government does not immediately free its leaders and cancel the tribunals.
Hasina told the parliament Sunday that she would extend all possible support to try war criminals. She also thanked the youths for raising voice against the 1971 war criminals.
Jamaat is a key ally of Khaleda's main opposition alliance which has also announced to gear up its movement demanding restoration of a non-party caretaker government system to oversee next parliament election slated for early 2014.
After returning to power in January 2009, Hasina, the daughter of Bangladesh's independence hero Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, established the first tribunal in March 2010, almost forty years after the 1971 fight for independence from Pakistan.
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