Never witnessed one disappears all of a sudden: Fakhrul

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday claimed that the incidents of enforced disappearances have been occurring in the country for a decade. Before that, people were not familiar with this.

“Bangladesh has witnessed a number of movements, revolutions, even killings, but never witnessed that someone has disappeared all of a sudden.”

The secretary general came up with this remark in an event, organised by Jatiyatabadi Help Cell, on Saturday morning at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity auditorium.

Quoting the photograph of Safa, he said, “The photograph of Safa has spread all over the Dhaka city. It is not possible for any kind person to stay stable looking at the picture. This picture is spread not only in the country but also around the world.”

The photograph of Safa won the first prize in the ‘Bangladesh Photo Contest-2021’ organised by the Drik. Safa’s father Mahfuzur Rahman, a Chhatra Dal leader, was allegedly disappeared by the law enforcement agency.

Mirza Fakrul said, “We were not familiar with the disappearance. It used to happen in Latin America and somewhat in North Korea. Bangladesh has witnessed a number of movements, revolutions, even killings, but never witnessed that one has disappeared all of a sudden, picked up by some plainclothes people. The incident of Ilias Ali was new for us.”

The BNP leader said, “I feel guilty if I look at the families of the disappeared people. They are not only suffering mentally but also financially.