Families of the victims of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, and those martyred and maimed in the July mass uprising yesterday demanded that ousted Sheikh Hasina and her party be brought to book.
Marking International Human Rights Day yesterday, Mayer Daak, a platform of the families of enforced disappearance victims, organised a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital.
Delegates from the United Nations, Jatiya Nagorik Committee, students against discrimination, rights defenders from home and abroad, leaders of the BNP, Jamaat, and Hefazat-e-Islam were on stage.
“We are able to hold an event in an open space on the 76th International Human Rights Day — something that was not possible before. This is an achievement of 36th July,” said noted rights activist Nur Khan, referring to Hasina’s fall on August 5.
The killing of Hefazat activists in 2013, enforced disappearances, and extrajudicial killing of opposition activists under Awami League’s 15-year rule bear the mark of genocide, he said.
Enforced disappearance victims who were released by the regime kept their ordeal a secret out of fear. Some of them are speaking up now, said Nur Khan.
People spent months and years in the tiny secret detention cells, said the member of the inquiry commission on enforced disappearances.
“They wrote many things on the walls. One of them wrote, ‘I love my country’. We now have the opportunity to identify the perpetrators and bring them to justice. We must not miss this.”
“We are able to hold an event in an open space on the 76th International Human Rights Day — something that was not possible before. This is an achievement of July 36.”
Jatiya Nagorik Committee Convener Nasir Uddin Patwary said, “Murderers of the Awami League’s regime must be brought to justice. Justice first, election later. Unless we ensure justice for the martyred and injured, be it politics, election or something else, there will be failure.”
Adviser Nahid Islam said, “The Awami League is a party that stands against humanity. Sheikh Hasina has blood on her hands, just like her father had. Sheikh Mujib established Baksal and violated human rights. Whenever they came to power, they violated human rights. The Awami League’s time is up.”
Referring to reports that people were blackmailed over cases related to the killings during the uprising, he said, “Students and the public are united against the exploiters and those rehabilitating the Awami League.”
Regarding killings at the Bangladesh-India border, he said, “We must speak on the basis of justice and equality. Killings at the border to put pressure on Bangladesh are wrong. I tell India: this is not Sheikh Hasina’s Bangladesh. If necessary, we will go to the border. You cannot present Bangladesh in a bad light to the world through lies.”
Nahid emphasised the need for unity to hold the Awami League accountable. “Everyone must rise above ideological differences and unite.”
Calling for an end to misinformation about Bangladesh in Indian media, he said, “Awami League members attacked minorities during their rule at various times. Despite witnessing this, India remained silent.”
Jatiya Nagorik Committee spokesperson Samantha Sharmin said Hasina must face trial both domestically and internationally.
BNP Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee said, “We endured the horrors of a fascist regime for 15 years… Many among us are torture survivors. I want all involved in the atrocities to be brought to justice.”
Student leader Hasnat Abdullah said, “Those who helped former prime minister Sheikh Hasina flee the country must also be found and held accountable.”
Many of the AL leaders who fled the country after August 5 have reportedly taken refuge in India.
Hasnat said, “India must not become a haven for terrorists.”
Another student leader Sarjis Alam urged police to be cautious, stating that cases are being filed and withdrawn for money over crimes committed in July.
“We will prevent any attempts to carry out extremist acts in the name of religion or ethnicity. We will stand together to stop it,” he said.
BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan said that in July, people “sacrificed their lives to save democracy”.
“We need reforms within our own selves… We are united when it comes to the country’s independence and sovereignty,” he said.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and representatives from Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, and Robert F Kennedy Human Rights expressed solidarity with the victims in video messages.
Family members broke down in tears as they recounted how their loved ones were taken from them. Children who lost their parents spoke.
Some who suffered life-changing injuries at the hand of police and AL activists attended the event. Many of them had lost sight.
Rasheda Begum, mother of a protester shot dead on July 18, said her son Sohel Rana got shot in Jatrabari. “He was buried as unknown at Rayerbagh graveyard. Will I not get my son’s body? My son is not an unclaimed corpse. Why was he buried as an unclaimed body?”
Jamaat leaders Mia Golam Porwar, Hamidur Rahman Azad; Nagorik Oikkyo President Mahmudur Rahman Manna; Ganosamhati Andolon leader Zonayed Saki; Biplobi Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Haque, AB Party member secretary Mojibur Rahman Monju; Hefazat leader Mufti Monir Hossain Kashemi; Nagorik Committee member Akhter Hossain; Hummam Quader Chowdhury, son of BNP leader Salauddin Quader Chowdhury; Huma Khan, senior human rights adviser at the UN Resident Coordinator’s Office; and Mayer Daak members Hajera Khatun and Sanjida Islam Tulee spoke at the event.
Daily Star