Enforced disappearance is against not only all democratic norms but also the very spirit of our Liberation War. How can this be acceptable in an independent country like ours? The Constitution guarantees every citizen’s protection. But this crime goes on unabated as the administration pays little heed to the demand for a credible and independent investigation into each of such cases, as alleged by the victim families.
News reports published in national dailies in the past few days said that family members of the disappeared persons want their near and dear ones back. One could find a couple of hundred tragic tales from the victims’ families who collected under the theme of ‘Mayer Dak’ (mother’s call) on the occasion of the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Mayer Dak, which has been protesting for a decade, also arranged human chains on the day at the Shaheed Minar and the Jatiya Press Club.
There were kids who had never seen their daddies. The forlorn children who were holding pictures of their dear ones forcibly disappeared for six-eight years or more, are heart-breaking reminders of this abhorrent crime. Baba Kobe ashbe? (When will Daddy come?) asks the youngest daughter of disappeared Sajedul Islam Sumon. No one has an answer, but she keeps asking anyway. Even many families have lost their sole income earners, throwing them into the abyss of financial hardship and poverty.
According to rights group Odhikar, 603 people were subjected to disappearances in Bangladesh in the last one decade. The number of victims and the way these incidents take place are similar in nature and indicate a systemic practice rather than sporadic acts of individual actors. This makes it all the more frightening. The family members have alleged that the victims were picked up from their homes or the streets by plainclothes people identifying themselves as members of the police or other law enforcing agencies.
The culture of impunity and the inaction of the state have left common citizens living in fear and despair. The government cannot avoid its responsibility to investigate these disappearances and hold those involved in this heinous act accountable. This crime of enforced disappearance must come to an end once and for all.
