Staff reporter :
Family members of the missing persons at various times organised a discussion meeting in the auditorium of the National Press Club on Monday under the theme “Mother’s Call” on the International Day for the Prevention of Missing Persons. Their only desire is to get their dear ones back.
At that time pictures of missing relatives were seen on the chests of everyone who took part in the event. Someone has a picture of a child on his/her chest, someone has a picture of a father on the chest, and someone has a picture of a brother on the chest.
At the meeting, the members of the victims’ families raised their grievances and described how the incident happened.
In the programme, Masum’s mother Ayesha Ali said, “On December 4, 2013, at around 6 pm, my son Abdul Quader Masum came out of his house in Nakhalpara, Dhaka to talk about tuition. He was 24 years old then. I have only one son. He was a very talented student. We do not know for what crime he was abducted. Our only request is to return my child. I am always waiting for my son to come back. It is impossible to say how much pain it is.”
Ismail Hossain Baten, a local timber trader from Mirpur area, went missing in June 2019. His daughter Anisa Islam said, “I don’t know how many more years it will take to get my father back. I can’t say whether I will get him back or not. We can’t say whether my father is alive or not. But I want to know about my father. The only request to the Prime Minister to take the initiative to return my father to us,” she said.
On December 4, 2013, eight people, including Sajedul Islam, went missing from Shahinbagh area of capital. Hafsa Islam, daughter of Sajedul Islam, said, “I have been the occasion here for the last eight years and saying the same thing. I want my father back. Even I said last year, if you can’t get my father back, make me disappear too. I am saying the same thing today. I don’t want to come here anymore. I just want to get my father back. Hafsa said, “Prime Minister, can’t you hear our cries, can’t you feel the pain of losing relatives?” Human rights activists, political figures and university teachers came to the meeting to offer their solidarity with the families of the missing persons. They demanded the return of the missing persons immediately. They also demanded a judicial inquiry in this regard. Among them, were Dr. Jafrullah Chowdhury, trustee of the public health center-Gonoshayastya, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, convener of the Nagorik Oikkay, Asif Nazrul, professor of law at Dhaka University, Jonaid Saki, chief coordinator of the Gono Sonhoti Andolon, and Nur Khan Liton, a human rights activist.
Speaking at the programme, the aggrieved family members appealed to the government for taking effective steps to find out the whereabouts of their fathers, sons and brothers.
Besides, BNP’s human rights cell also arranged a human right chain in front of the Jatiya Press Club, marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
