[10] President Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was killed in the 15 August 1975 Bangladeshi coup d'état and Awami League government overthrown.

[14] Zahir Raihan's brother, Shahidullah Kaiser, was a victim of enforced disappearance by local collaborators including Abdul Majid Majumder, office secretary of Dhaka District unit of Jamaat-e-Islami, identified by witnesses of the abduction.

[15] As the ruler of Bangladesh, President Ziaur Rahman (1975–1981) enacted several controversial measures, ostensibly to win the support of Islamic political parties and opponents of the Awami League.

[16][17][18] In 1978, he revoked the ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami,[19] which was widely believed to have collaborated with the Pakistani army and members of which are alleged to have committed war crimes against civilians.

[23] The committee called for the trial of people who committed crimes against humanity in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War in collaboration with the Pakistani forces.

[24] The Ghatak-Dalal Nirmul Committee set up mock trials in Dhaka in March 1992 known as Gono Adalat (Court of the people) and sentenced persons they accused of being war criminals.

[37][38][39][40] Post Liberation Students Union for Better Bangladesh (PSUBD) held protests and demonstrations urging trial of war criminals.

[41] PSUBD continued to demand the trial of war criminals by holding protests, demonstrations, human chains and other activities to gain public support on the issue.