Enforced disappearances: Hasina must face maximum punishment on country’s soil, says Mirza Fakhrul

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday claimed that former prime minister Sheikh Hasina has been proven responsible for the enforced disappearances and killings that occurred in the country during the Awami League’s rule.

He said, “Today it has been proven that Hasina is responsible for these killings. Hasina is responsible for these disappearances. So, Hasina must be tried. The trial must take place on the country’s soil, and she must face the maximum punishment.”

Mirza Fakhrul made these remarks on at a human chain on the capital’s Manik Mia Avenue on Friday afternoon.

‘Maayer Dak,’ a platform of the family members and relatives of the victims of enforced disappearances, organised the event in memory of the victims.

Members of over 100 families of victims of enforced disappearances and killings attended the human chain, according to the organisers.

Addressing the human chain, Mirza Fakhrul said, “Do not be discouraged. People’s movements never fail. They never have until now.”

The BNP secretary general further said it would be wrong to think that BNP would ignore these issues (enforced disappearances and killings of opposition leaders, activists, and common people during Awami League rule).

BNP indeed wants elections, he said, and it seeks elections to ensure these trials and to expedite the judicial process.

“We have been part of this movement, we are part of it, and we will remain with it until we can bring those responsible (for the disappearances and killings) to justice,” Mirza Fakhrul added.

The interim government completely failed to present the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances before the public, the BNP secretary general commented, saying that it also failed to conduct public hearings and to stop the grief of the families of the victims. "The government must be held accountable for this."

He expressed hope that detailed information about those involved in the enforced disappearances and killings would be revealed during the interim government period.

No matter how powerful someone is, their information must be brought to light, Mirza Fakhrul said, adding that there could be no crime more horrifying than this, and the punishment for such crimes against humanity is death.

After the human chain, the BNP secretary general inaugurated a photo exhibition titled “Memories of Disappearance.”