Even before the completion of the scrutiny of freedom fighters, the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (Jamuka) has been flooded with appeals from deprived candidates or those who got ‘divided’ opinions from the upazila-level committees, said sources in the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs. Jamuka is yet to receive reports from over 100 out of 470 scrutiny committees due to litigation and no one seems to know when the verification process will end. But the aggrieved applicants are appealing to Jamuka almost every day, hoping to find a place on the freedom fighters’ list, said a senior ministry official.

It is a big challenge for Jamuka to settle thousands of disputes submitted by the aggrieved persons, who have either been dropped by the upazila-level scrutiny committee or got a divided verdict, he said.

Jamuka has opened a cell at its Kakrail office in the city to receive the appeals. The aggrieved people are thronging the cell every day to file their appeals.

Jamuka director general Md Mizanur Rahman told The Independent they have so far received 30,000 appeals from those dropped from the list or kept in the ‘divided’ category. He said Jamuka is yet to formulate a policy on the ways to deal with such a large number of appeals already filed, and more are likely to come in.

The Jamuka DG, however, made it clear that it will not be possible to deal with the appeals from the headquarters alone, since that would take a long time. He hinted that the appeals could be settled at the division level, but no decision had been taken yet.

Awlad Hossain, a listed freedom fighter from Munshiganj, alleged that his name was dropped during the scrutiny because his age was three months less than the required 13 years, although he had valid papers.

He has submitted an appeal to Jamuka, seeking a review of his case. He had gone to the office to enquire about his fate when this reporter met him. But he was given no assurance about when the matter would be resolved.

Jamuka has so far received reports from 363 out of 470 scrutiny committees at the upazila level across the country. It is already finding it difficult to prepare a list of new freedom fighters, as most of the committees have not abided by the directives on the filing of reports. Only 40 committees have submitted detailed information, according to Jamuka’s requirements.

The scrutiny of freedom fighters began on January 21, after about 150,000 fresh applicants sought enlistment. Around 25,000 gazetted freedom fighters were accused of using fake documents.

The council failed to disclose the scrutiny results by March 26, the deadline it had earlier set for the publication of results. Government facilities for freedom fighters, including monthly allowances, two Eid bonuses, and job and admission quotas in educational institutions lure many to try to get a freedom fighter’s certificate, though the names of many of them appear neither in Mukti Barta (Green) nor Mukti Barta (Red) lists. The number of freedom fighters has increased in each list prepared after the country’s independence in 1971. According to the latest list, there are about 215,000 freedom fighters in the country.