The several working groups of the United Nations Human Rights Council on enforced and involuntary disappearances did not find any truth in BNP-Jamaat’s claim of thousands of people went ‘missing’ or ‘disappeared’ in the country. If this allegation were true, many people would have gone missing in every village, people would be lamenting everywhere. But the reality says otherwise. Bangladesh was recently given a list of 76 missing persons by the United Nations. After that, the Bangladesh government made a detailed report about their overall situation. It appears that out of the 76 persons who have been claimed missing, 10 have been found. Among them, 8 people are staying at home with their families, and the remaining 2 are in jail. One of the ten, Shamim Pradhan of Bogra who is accused in several criminal cases, ran for office in the Union Council Election in 2021 with the ticket from BNP.
Many of the remaining 66 have been missing since the caretaker government, long before the Awami League came to power in 2009. One of them is Barisal Chhatra League’s Cultural Secretary Mohammad Shafiqullah Monayem, who has been missing since December 1, 2007. Another person Mohammad Hasan Khan went missing from Gazipur on May 25, 2008. When Awami League formed the government in January 2009, the law enforcement agencies could not find any information about the location of the two of them despite a long and thorough search. There are even older events in this list. In 1996, Kalpana Chakma disappeared on the night before the parliamentary elections. The Awami League has not yet come to power, but the civil society and human rights organizations funded by BNP-Jamaat are blaming the Awami League.
Meanwhile, after the formation of the Awami League government in 2009, the demand for the prosecution of those accused of war crimes including genocide and rape during the 1971 liberation war started to strengthen. Within a few years, the youth of the whole country raised this demand. At one such time in 2012, KM Shamim Akhtar, the youth leader of the ruling party’s ally and like-minded party CPB, went missing from the Puranpaltan area known as the BNP-Jamaat base in the capital. A few days later, BNP-Jamaat miscreants carried out arson and murder across the country. They even started killing the progressive people of the country using the shield of religion.
Miscreants indulged in acts of vandalism like arson, vandalism, loss of property, looting and petrol bomb killings across the country centred around the 2014 national elections. The police believe that 26 others like Noor Alam of Gazipur, who is wanted by the police in various cases of terrorism and sabotage, are hiding to avoid arrest. Remember Haris Chowdhury? He was the political advisor of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and was convicted in the 21st August Grenade Attack Case. Time and time again, BNP-Jamaat claimed that the government is responsible for his disappearance.
They repeatedly launched anti-government propaganda in the international arena, seeking to find Haris Chowdhury. But late after the news of Haris Chowdhury’s death was leaked, it came to light that Haris Chowdhury was living in Dhaka assuming a different identity. All this time he was not just inside the country but was living in Dhaka. His family was fully aware of this arrangement but they shamelessly accused the Awami League of his alleged disappearance. No one will be surprised if Ilias Ali or other BNP leaders and activists who are on the list reappear. It is highly possible that Abdullah Azmi and Mir Ahmed bin Qasim, the two sons of two notorious Razakars, Ghulam Azam and Mir Qasim respectively are following the same script. This is just another lie BNP-Jamaat leaders can tell easily without losing any confidence.
The biggest act of this ‘missing and disappearance’ drama was arranged in 2013 during the Hefazat rally in Shapla Chatwar, Dhaka. The political miscreants of BNP-Jamaat have created webs of misinformation regarding the operation of the law enforcement agencies to protect Dhaka city from chaos. They have given statements to so-called human rights organizations funded by them that hundreds of people have been killed. Then using their statement as a reference, published anti-state news in several international media. This news spread misinformation and provocations inside the country and tried to start controversies against the government. But later, every media started investigating the list BNP-Jamaat funded rights organizations provided and reality started to appear from the fog created by those organizations. Journalists found that those who were reported dead in the list are staying in their respective madrassas, alive and well. After that, the government asked for the list and identity of the missing persons, but the so-called human rights organizations funded by BNP-Jamaat failed to provide it. This is the actual nature of BNP-Jamaat. Their expertise in creating rumors and making them feel real is unbeknownst to anyone. They have been doing this since before liberation.
Many BNP-Jamaat leaders and activists who are accused of vandalizing public property and inciting violence from 2013 to 2015 are on this list. Various organizations are claiming that law and order forces have taken away many cadres from Chhatra Dal leaders. Looking at the list of those who have returned and the nature of their disappearance, it is clear that most of them are in hiding and are running the activities of the party from there.
Also, some international terrorists on this list came to Bangladesh to escape from justice after inducing terror cross-border. One of them is Sanayama Rajkumar aka Meghan Rajkumar. This top leader of Manipur-based separatist organization United Liberation Front (UNLF) was released from Indian jail on November 9, 2019. The name of another member of this organization is also on the list of 76 people.
Basically, after failing in politics BNP-Jamaat has now indulged in anti-government propaganda. When this coalition was in power from 2001 to 2006, they indulged in public killings, attacks on houses, rape of women and children, and looting. That is why BNP-Jamaat still scares people. Knowing that the people of the country are not with them, they are now resorting to the strategy of isolating the common people of the country from the world by sending wrong messages to the government and the international community.