The war crimes trial has lost two key witnesses in the deaths of Mishuk Munier and Tareque Masud.

Ashfaque Munier Mishuk and Tareque Masud

War Crimes Trial
2 key witnesses lost
The war crimes trial has lost two key witnesses in the deaths of Mishuk Munier and Tareque Masud.
The two were listed as witnesses. They were also compiling documents and audio-visual evidence for the investigation agency of the war crimes tribunal.
Mishuk Munier was the only one among his three siblings who saw his father, martyred intellectual Munier Chowdhury, being taken away by collaborators of the Pakistani occupation force on December 14, 1971.

Four decades later, Mishuk, now one of the pioneers of broadcast journalism in the country, had decided to narrate that harrowing experience to the International Crimes Tribunal, formed in March last year for trial of war criminals.
He and Tareque were deeply committed to unearthing the facts about genocide and other atrocities committed during the Liberation War, said those close to the duo.
But before their hard work could translate into conviction of war criminals, something they had longed to see in their lifetime, their lives were cut short by a road crash on Saturday.

A day after their death, The Daily Star learned about their being listed as witnesses in the trial.

“Tareque and Mishuk
were not only listed as witnesses, they were advisers to our audio-visual team. We did not disclose it before as it's our policy not to publish names of witnesses and those working as researchers,” said an investigator of the tribunal, requesting not to be named.
Tareque was made a witness because of his extensive work on the war. He travelled across the country, gathering accounts of war crimes victims. Besides, he developed over the years a rich archive of audio-visual materials on the war, said investigation sources.
“The death of these two witnesses is a great loss,” said Haider Ali, a prosecutor of the tribunal.

“Tareque already gave us a lot of footage from his film Muktir Gaan. Hopefully, that will work as strong evidence against those charged with crimes against humanity,” said M Sanaul Huq, an ICT investigator.
“Tareque was supposed to give deposition about genocide and other war crimes, while Mishuk was to testify how his father was picked up by Razakars [collaborators],” said another investigator.

The investigators, however, would not say in which cases the two were made witnesses, citing confidentiality.

The international crimes tribunal started its proceedings on July 26 last year. Five leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and two leaders of BNP are awaiting trial on charges of war crimes.
Sensing defeat, the Pakistan army and their collaborators dragged away teachers, doctors, engineers and journalists from their houses in Dhaka and killed them just two days before the nation won independence after a nine-month bloody war.
The bodies of the martyred intellectuals were dumped at Rayerbazar, Mirpur and a few other places in the city.

Prof Munier Chowdhury was one of them.
Mishuk, then 12, saw from the first-floor balcony of their two-storey building on Central Road in the capital some collaborators taking away his father.
“After 1971, he [Mishuk] could recognise a local collaborator who was in the team that hauled my father out of the house,” said Asif Munier, younger brother of Mishuk.
At that time, Mishuk's elder brother Ahmed Munier Bhashan was on the battlefield.
Grown up, Mishuk collaborated in the making of a number of films based on Liberation War stories. He assisted Tareque to make Muktir Katha (Oral Testimony), a film based on interviews of the war victims.
He was also involved in the production of War Crimes File, another film on the Liberation War, directed by David Bergman in the 1990s.
The war of 1971 was the centrepiece of Tareque's work. His passion for the struggle for independence led him to make Muktir Gaan, a documentary on the cultural activists who travelled around the country to inspire people with their songs of the motherland.
After Muktir Gaan, Tareque, along with his wife Catherine, made two more documentaries--Muktir Katha and Narir Katha

Tareque and Catherine Masud with their baby boy Nishad. Photo: Shawkat Jamil
Fate puts a full stop

On the very first day they brought their only son Nishad in Bangladesh after his birth in USA in 2010, his internationally renowned filmmaker parents Tareque Masud and Catherine Masud put down the six-month-old on a muddy patch of ground beside their house.They wanted Nishad to start his journey in Bangladesh by getting a feel of the country's soil.

The parents who dedicated most of their lives in to producing brilliant films, were blessed with a son after 21 years of marriage. They missed him while working away from home, so Nishad often accompanied them to shooting spots in and outside the capital, says a friend of Tareque.

Yesterday however, little Nishad remained home while this parents left early in the morning on an assignment. Till now, the 15-month Nishad Bingham Putra Masud knows nothing about the fate of his parents. Along with four others, his father Tareque was killed in a road accident in Manikganj yesterday while his mother Catherine was severely injured and is currently undergoing treatment at the city's Square Hospital.

Close friends and family members struggled to find words while talking to this reporter about the lives of the renowned filmmakers.

Following yesterday's events, Nishad was sent to a relative's house, so that the sad environment would not psychologically affect him.

“Tareque and Catherine

wanted their son to grow up independently. Also, they were on exceptionally good terms in their married life. I never saw such a wonderful couple”, said a close family friend.

Tareque and Catherine first met each other in the late 1980s at a programme in Dhaka city. Catherine, who is from a renowned US family, was in Bangladesh to conduct research work on the role of NGOs in the country.

Catherine, who is also a good painter, had a great interest in film and became a good friend of Tareque's quickly.

Catherine returned to the USA after a couple of months, but could not stay there for long. She came back to Bangladesh for Tareque again in 1988.

Soon after her return in 1988, Tareque and Catherine got married, said the friend.

“It was Tareque for whom Catherine returned to Bangladesh, got engaged in filmmaking, and decided to remain in Bangladesh,” she said.

Catherine changed her last name to “Masud” after the marriage. She wanted to live in the country as a Bangalee.

“Every film of ours is our child,” Tareque and Catherine replied to their friends and well-wishers who wanted them to have a child after the marriage.

Their friends could hardly think about Tareque and Catherine separately in the world of filmmaking. They were a team and all the masterpieces these two have presented before the world were the outcome of a combined effort.

“We could hardly think about one of them separately,” said Sara Hossain, a friend of Tareque and Catherine.

According to Sara, the couple complimented each other every step of the way. “Tareque was a bit theoretical whereas Catherine was much more practical. I think, they [Masud and Catherine] have done so well as they were together,” Sara said.

Tareque studied in a Madrasa in his early years. He completed his graduation from the History Department of Dhaka University. It was during his university life when Tareque got engaged with the film society and in various theatre activities.

Mishuk Munier, his wife Kaji Munjuly and son Shuhrid.

Usual bye was final goodbye

“It was a usual goodbye. He did not tell me anything special before leaving. Just kissed me goodbye, waved and left like any other day,” said Mishuk Munier's son Shuhrid choked by emotions.

Nineteen-year-old Shuhrid Sebastian Munier said, "I came from Toronto to see him [Mishuk Munier] but he was very busy.

“But when I got admitted to hospital for a viral infection Baba was giving me a lot more time there.

"Last night he stayed with me all night at the hospital,” Shuhrid said.

Early in the morning the father kissed the son goodbye and left for Manikganj.

Ashfaque Munier Mishuk more popular as Mishuk Munier moved back to Dhaka a few months ago to work as the CEO of ATN News. He had migrated to Canada after Ekushey TV channel was shut down. He had been a key figure in the channel.

Shuhrid was released from the Apollo Hospital yesterday morning and within a couple of hours he was notified that his father was no more.

Shuhrid, his mother and his grandmother Lily Chowdhury, widow of martyred intellectual Prof Munier Chowdhury yesterday secluded themselves to mourn. Only near and dear ones visited them.

Theater activist Lily Chowdhury had given her other son Asif Munier documents regarding the grave of her mother in Banani Graveyard. She had told him that she wishes to be buried close to her mother. But now her son Mishuk Munier is taking her spot.

Mishuk was only 12 during the Liberation War when Prof Munier Chowdhury was abducted and killed.

"She struggled a lot but she raised us well and," said Asif Munier, younger brother of Mishuk.

Mishuk Munier became a famous cinematographer, journalists, photographer and was a teacher of Dhaka University before he died yesterday at the age of 52.

On one of the shelves in the living room of the Banani home, a number of crests are placed which were given to the family on different occasions in remembrance of the contribution of martyred Professor Munier Chowdhury.

Some framed photographs were hanging on the walls. Weddings photo of Munier Chowdhury and Lily, and their three sons Ahmed Munier Chowdhury Bhason, Ashfaque Munier Chowdhury Mishuk and Asif Munier Chowdhury Tanmay.

Another family photo with all five members of the family sitting on lawn. "Mishuk bhai is in the middle of the photo," Asif told The Daily Star, as he was interrupted with a phone call.

Aparna, his niece, daughter of Ahmed Munier called from the USA. She and her brother Srijon would reach today in Dhaka. But her father, elder brother of deceased would reach on Tuesday.

"So he would be in the Square Hospital mortuary until Tuesday," Asif said.

“He was eight years older than I. He is a significant part of my childhood and boyhood. I spent a lot of time with him during my childhood and boyhood.

“Slowly the communication frequency dropped as we grew older. He migrated to Canada after Ekushey Television was shut down. I still feel the brotherly care he has for me,” Asif said.

He said Tareque Masud and Mishuk were very close friends.

"He used to come from Canada to work on his [Tareque's] film. He worked on his every movie starting from his first documentary film Adam Surat."

“…Today they died together,” he said.

"He traveled across continents for his works, took risks in war wrecked Afghanistan and Libya, and faced many ordeals. But it is hard to accept that he had to die here this way," said Asif Munier.

Shuhrid, a second-year student of mass communication in York University, Canada, and his mother Kazi Munjuly, came to Dhaka from Toronto last month to spend time with Mishuk Munier.

Spending hours with his mother and grandmother, shocked and sad Shuhrid went to the living room yesterday where family and friends gathered.

"He never pushed me for anything. He wanted me to do what I want to do, what I want to be," said Shuhrid when asked if he wanted to be a journalist like his father.