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JATIYA SANGSAD BHABAN, May 5, 2024 (BSS) - Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque has said there is no more opportunity to apply for becoming a new freedom fighter.

"The list of freedom fighters has been revised several times after the independence. Lastly, an online application for including the freedom fighter list was accepted. Later, the National Freedom Fighters Council published the final list after verifying these applications through upazila, district committee," he told the House. 

Responding to a supplementary question from treasury bench lawmaker Md Mainul Hossain Khan in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS), the minister said that now there is no chance to apply to become a new freedom fighter.

"Ziaur Rahman initiated the first extrajudicial killings in the country," he said while responding to another supplementary question from treasury bench lawmaker Tarana Halim.

"During his regime many members of the army, navy and air force were killed without trial," the Liberation War minister added.

He also suggested the lawmaker to give a notice in Parliament for presenting the details of those first extrajudicial killings.

Replying to another question, Mozammel Haque said that the issue of increasing the honorarium of brave freedom fighters is currently under review.

"In the fiscal year 2003-2004, the first freedom fighter allowance programme was started at Taka 300 per month to 40,000 brave freedom fighters or beneficiaries. The present government is constantly taking various activities for the welfare of the freedom fighters," he added. 

In continuation of this, the amount of freedom fighter honorarium has been increased several times from the fiscal year 2021-22, with a monthly honorarium of Taka 20,000 and two annual festival allowances of Taka 10,000, the minister said. 

He, however, said from the fiscal year 2018-19, freedom fighters and their successors are being paid Taka 2,000 per person in addition to the State Honorary Allowance and Taka 5,000 per person in respect of the Victory Day allowance.