Staff Reporter :Lawyers and political leaders have laid emphasis on early returning of BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed from India saying that he can’t be accused literally for trespassing into India illegally and intentionally. They said it is true Salahuddin Ahmed entered India without a visa, but he claimed that he was bundled into India blindfolded. He had no hand in it. He did not commit any crime in India except that he had no Indian visa. For this there cannot be any need for India to complicate his coming back to Bangladesh. According to his story, he is a victim and the offence committed against him by kidnapping and bringing him to India must have begun in Bangladesh. So the proper place to commence legal process is Bangladesh.They believe surely India will not like to associate with the crime that has been committed against him in Bangladesh. It is natural to expect India to send Salahuddin back home taking into consideration the human sufferings he has already faced in the hand of abductors. Salahuddin’s political background cannot be ignored and yet he did not go to India to seek asylum or hide. They said the government should take immediate steps to bring BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed back from India, standing committee member of BNP Lt Gen (retd) Mahbubur Rahman said on Friday.Considering the humanitarian aspect, the government of both the countries – India and Bangladesh should immediately send him to his family. “Salahuddin Ahmed was found 62 days after his disappearance. We don’t know what happened to him. Only Salahuddin can clear everything. So, we have to wait for that. But I think he should be brought back at first,” he said. Talking to The New Nation, he said Salahuddin was not an ordinary man to go to India without any travel documents. “There must be some reasons. We need an effective investigation to unearth the truth how he went to Shillong, who took him there. However, investigation could be carried out later,” he said. “As per media reports, he was taken blindfolded by some people to India. In that case, he did not enter India intentionally rather he was bundled there by some unknown persons. So we believe he can’t be held in jail or put on trial in India on the allegations of illegal entry,” he said. “I think the humanitarian aspect of the incident should be given the highest priority. We expect all out cooperation from the government for Salahuddin’s return home as he does not have any travel documents,” Mahbubur Rahman said. Former Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Professor Emajuddin Ahmed also demanded a judicial inquiry into the disappearance of Salahuddin, who held him where he was arrested. He alleged that the government was engaging in foul politics after Salahuddin was traced in India after two months. “Who brought Salahuddin to India? How did he reach the mental hospital of Shillong? How they evaded Indian security watch all the way from the border? A judiciary inquiry body is needed to find out these questions,” he asked.Salahuddin’s wife Hasina Ahmed alleged that the members of law enforcing agencies picked Salahuddin from a house in the capital’s Uttara two months ago.Noted lawyer Barrister Rafique-ul Huq said it is the foreign ministries responsibility to bring back Salahuddin. “Repatriation has always been a complicated issue. Foreign ministry should deal with the matter of Salahuddin,” he said. Meanwhile, two relatives of Salahuddin Ahmed already met him in the Indian hospital on Thursday. According to media reports, the BNP leader was brought to Shillong in the Indian state of Meghalaya blindfolded by a group of people.”I was dropped from a vehicle at Pologround of Shillong, the capital of India state Meghalaya. I was also blindfolded at that time,” said Salahuddin.Aiyub Ali, a resident of Kolkata who identified him as a distance cousin of Salahuddin, said after removing the blindfold, Salahuddin could not understand where he was staying. Later, after talking to local people, he could realize that he was in India. He himself went to the police and gave his identity, though the Shillong police have been claiming that locals found him in mentally imbalanced condition, and informed them. According to the Indian police, they arrested Salauddin from Golf Link of Shillong on Monday. They sent him to a mental hospital. Later, the BNP leader was shifted to the Shillong Civil Hospital. He is now under the treatment of doctors in the hospital with tight police vigil. The Indian police on Thursday afternoon interrogated Salahuddin about his entering into Indian territory. According to Indian Police, he may face imprisonment for trespassing in Indian territory without any valid document. Police filed a case against him under the Foreigners’ Act of India. The Indian authorities, however, may send him to Bangladesh if the Indian court issues order in this regard, the Indian police noted. Vivek Syiem, Superintendent of Police (city) of East Khasi Hills of Meghalaya, told an English daily of Dhaka that the Indian police would send back Salahuddin to Bangladesh if the court orders. They will produce him before the court once the hospital authorities release him. In cases of trespassing like the one involving Salahuddin, police usually send the intruder back to his country upon court order, said Vivek Syiem. He said they have already communicated the matter to Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi and Bangladesh Mission in Kolkata.
