Names of 2,111 freedom fighters under 12.5 years to be excluded
Staff Correspondent
The government has decided to remove the names of at least 2,111 freedom fighters from the list, as they were under 12 and a half years old during the Liberation War of 1971.
Faruk-e-Azam, adviser to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, said this while addressing a press conference at his ministry office in Dhaka on Wednesday.
The ministry has set the minimum age for freedom fighters at 12 years and 6 months while there are 2,111 freedom fighters who fall below this age limit, he said. “We will drop their names from the freedom fighters’ list.”
There are complaints that many people have enlisted without being genuine freedom fighters and have accessed various facilities by using the name of freedom fighter, said the adviser.
They will be acquitted if they voluntarily withdraw their names from the list. Otherwise, they will be held accountable and face punishment through legal proceedings, he said.
The total number of freedom fighters receiving allowances from the government is 1, 96, 454, and 464 of them are heroines.
