The government is set to publish a final list of approximately 210,000 Freedom Fighters on Mar 26, Independence Day, next year.
Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque made the statement at a press conference in the ministry's conference room on Sunday.
Initially, the estimated number of actual Freedom Fighters was 251,000. However, due to some technical reasons and repetition of names, the number is likely to be reduced to 210,000, he said.
"We have received the first draft of the list of Freedom Fighters. According to the information we have, as many as 333,856 names appear in one list or the other. Among them, 251,285 have a valid claim to the title," said Haque.
At present, 201,461 are receiving the Freedom Fighters' allowance, said the minister before adding, "People's names appear on multiple documents. Therefore it may seem that the number of freedom fighters is high but it is actually not more than 210,000."
Highlighting the process of scrutinising Freedom Fighters, the minister said a gazette recognising 44,000 people as freedom fighters had previously been published in violation of the law. Later, an initiative to prepare a list was taken in accordance with the rules.
At the same briefing, the Liberation War Affairs Ministry published a list of 10,789 Razakars, the Bengalis who collaborated with the Pakistani occupational forces during the Liberation War of 1971.
The full list of collaborators will gradually be released, the minister said before adding the first part is available on the ministry's website.
"There was documentary evidence in the record rooms of the then 19 districts which were asked to be handed over. We didn't get the expected list so we've asked the authorities to send the all records by January. The list will be published in phases upon scrutinising the records," said Haque.
The minister made it clear that a new list was not being made but those who were recruited to the Razakar, Al-Badr, Al-Shams and other anti-liberation forces by the Pakistani government and were named in the old records preserved by the home ministry have been included.
Responding to a query, he said that the government has no plans to publish the list as a gazette before adding: "But there could be a gazette if the people want it and the government acts accordingly."