UNB :
A top Rohingya community leader was shot dead by unknown gunmen at Kutupalong refugee camp of Ukhia on Wednesday night, police said.
Police identified the slain leader as Mohammad Muhibullah.
The 14th APBn commander SP Md. Naimul Haque confired that the gun attack took place at around 8:30 pm.
The Rohingya man was first taken to a local medical facility and later referred to o Cox’s Bazar Sadar Hospital where the on-duty doctor declared him dead, added Naimul.
Mohibullah was the chairman of the Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Human Rights (ARSPH), one of the leading organisations giving voice to the Rohingya refugees. The ARSPH office inside the Kutupalong camp, the world’s largest refugee settlement, often housed meetings among Rohingya community leaders.
Mohibullah, a teacher turned rights activist, emerged as a key refugee leader and spokesperson in international meetings. In 2019, he was chosen to represent his community on a visit to the White House for a meeting with the U.S. president on religious freedom, where he voiced the persecution faced by the Rohingya in Myanmar.
That same year, he came under fire after he along with others led a massive rally of 200,000 refugees to mark the second anniversary of the Myanmar military crackdown. Though it was peaceful, Bangladesh authorities appeared rattled.
They subsequently padlocked the ARSPH office, as part of a clampdown on the refugees following a failed repatriation attempt. The office was later allowed to reopen.
It was there that Mohibullah was gunned down on Wednesday evening.
According to Fortify Rights, an international NGO that has done advocacy on behalf of the Rohingya, Mohibullah’s rejection of violence had made him the target of death threats by Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army militants and their sympathisers.
