Minimum age of freedom fighter 13

After 45 years of independence, the government has finalised the definition of freedom fighter, fixing 13 as the minimum age for being recognised as a freedom fighter.

Setting nine conditions for eligibility, a gazette notification was published yesterday with the consent of President Abdul Hamid.

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The government has finalised the definition on the basis of recommendations of the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council to prepare an acceptable list of the freedom fighters.

According to the gazette, people who were 13 on March 26 in 1971 would be deemed eligible to apply for the status.

As per the definition, people who took part in the Liberation War in response to the call of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman between March 26 and December 16 in 1971 will be recognised as freedom fighters.

People who had registered with different training camps in India during the war after crossing border, professionals and eminent Bangladeshis who had played an active role abroad in gaining world support for the war effort, people who had been engaged in running the then Mujibnagar government and members of national assembly (MNA) and members of provincial assembly (MPA) who had taken part in the Liberation War and had been involved in the Mujibnagar government, members of the armed forces, police, EPR and Ansar who had participated in the war, members of medical teams that had treated the wounded freedom fighters and players of Swadhin Bangla Football Team, members of Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra and journalists who had been in the country and abroad during the war and women who had been violated and tortured by the then Pakistan occupation forces will be eligible for freedom fighter status.

The process of recognising Biranganas (war heroines) as freedom fighters began after a High Court order on January 27 in 2014, and the government for the first time in October in 2015 recognised 41 Biranganas as freedom fighters.

A total of 146 women have been honoured as freedom fighters in the phases by the government.

In October, 2014, the Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (JMC) decided that those who were at least 15 years old on March 26, 1971, could apply for obtaining the freedom fighter status.

The decision faced huge criticism, as the minimum age of 15 excluded many noted freedom fighters like Taramon Bibi, Abu Salek Bir Pratik, Shahidul Islam Lalu and Jahiruddin Jalal (known as Bichchhu Jalal during the war) who were below 15 when they had participated in the Liberation War.

Revising the decision to address the issue, the JMC in July last year said people who were 13 on March 26 in 1971 would be able to apply for the status of freedom fighter.

According to the Bangladesh (Freedom Fighters) Welfare Trust Order, 1972, a freedom fighter is a "person who served as a member of any force engaged in the war of liberation but shall not include the serving members of the defence services, police or the civil armed forces, or any government pensioner, or any other person having any regular source of income."

Considering the definition incomplete, the liberation war affairs ministry had taken initiatives to change the definition.

There are some 2.12 lakh freedom fighters. The number was 1.98 lakh in the 2002 gazette published during the BNP-Jamaat rule.

At present, freedom fighters, their children, and grandchildren enjoy 30 percent quota in government jobs. In addition, freedom fighters' children and grandchildren get special quotas in public schools, colleges, and universities.