Inhabitants of Horirampur upazila in Manikganj have vowed to resist the burial of notorious war criminal, Mir Quasem Ali, in the area. Mir Quasem was hanged yesterday. They are enraged, sensing that family members of the top Jamaat-e-Islami leader and financier, hailing from Chala village of Horirampur, might be making preparations to bury him at the mosque where he had some land.
Yesterday, several hundred locals, led by AL leaders and activists, brought out processions and held rallies against the burial of Mir Quasem at Chala. Talking to The Independent, upazila Awami League president Guljar Hossain Bachu said yesterday that they would resist any attempt to bury the war criminal at Chala village in Horirampur upazila. Over 700 AL leaders and activists, along with freedom fighters, are guarding Chala village, the AL leader said. “The situation at Horirampur was tense, with law enforcers patrolling the area,” he added. Mir Miraz Hossain, nephew of Mir Quasem, said the police have fixed a place for the burial. He said Mir Quasem had wished to be laid to rest beside the mosque. The local administration is making preparations for the burial.
Nearly 15 years ago, Mir Quasem had purchased 50 decimals of land at Chala village in Horirampur upazila. He also built a mosque there. But he did not have any house at the village. Piyaru, alias Mintu, was the nickname of Mir Quasem. He was born at Munsidangi village in Sutalari union on December 31, 1952. His ancestral house at Munsidangi is now under floodwaters of the Padma. His father’s name was Mir Tayeb Ali. Mir Quasem was the second of four sons. He lived in Chittagong from an early age as his father worked there.