Liberation War Affairs Minister Ahmed Azam Khan on Wednesday told Parliament that the official recognition of 481 non-freedom fighters were rebuked since August, 2024 following recommendations from the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (Jamuka).
“Based on complaints, the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council conducted verification and investigations and based on its recommendations, the ministry cancelled the gazette notifications, Lal Muktibarta and Indian lists of 481 individuals,” he said.
The minister made the remarks responding to questions from NCP lawmaker Akhter Hossen and ruling party lawmaker Md Jahander Ali Miha (Madaripur-2) during the question-and-answer session in the House.
In his question, Akhter 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 people 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 said 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, he said.
Ahmed Azam said the process of reviewing such complaints is ongoing and 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.
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He 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 lawmaker AM Mahbub Uddin Khokon (Noakhali-1), the minister said there are currently 198,037 recognised 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 Tk 10,000 each annually and a Pahela Baishakh 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 government consideration to increase the honorarium for freedom fighters.