Nirmul Committee, UK branch

In 1992 family members of victims of the Bangladesh Liberation War (Bangladesh War of Independence) living in Bangladesh began an unprecedented movement under a campaign called 'Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee' (Committee for Resisting Killers and Collaborators of Bangladesh Liberation War). The Committee has since been renamed the Forum for Secular Bangladesh and Trial of War Criminals of 1971, and is commonly known as the Nirmul Committee. The UK branch of the Nirmul Committee (also known as Bangladesh Anti War Criminal Committee but now known as International Forum for Secular Bangladesh) was also formed in 1992 in solidarity with the campaign in Bangladesh. Its operations were based in the East End of London, in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. Both the Bangledesh and UK Committees were formed to seek justice for the victims of Bangladesh Liberation War and to challenge fundamentalist or extremist groups who were seen to have colluded with the occupying Pakistani military (including the Razakars and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami). In addition, the UK branch of the Nirmul Committee would seek to expose suspected collaborators who were residing in the UK after fleeing Bangladesh and to challenge the rise of religious fundamentalism and extremism in the UK. The UK branch also has a remit to advance the education of the public generally, and of young people of Bengali origin in particular. This includes, but is not limited to, Bengali secular culture, history and traditions.