‘We’ll always stand by you’

The BNP will always stand by the families who lost their dear ones in the fight against fascism, party Chairman Tarique Rahman said yesterday.

“Many children are still waiting, hoping that their disappeared father will one day return and knock on the door. Many mothers are still holding on to hope that their lost child will once again call out to them.

“This waiting carries a profound responsibility for the state,” he told a views-exchange meeting with family members of victims of enforced disappearances, killings and torture, jointly organised by Amra BNP Poribar and Mayer Daak at the Bangladesh China Friendship Conference Center.

Listening to the accounts of relatives of forcibly disappeared persons, Tarique appeared visibly emotional, at times breaking down and embracing family members of the victims to offer comfort and solidarity.

Mothers, sisters and daughters who have been waiting for years without news of their missing loved ones came forward to share their experiences. Several wept as they spoke, hugging Tarique, as he listened quietly, wiping away his own tears and offering reassurance.

Addressing the bereaved families, the BNP chief reaffirmed the party’s long-standing commitment that, if voted to power, it would name key roads and government institutions after victims of enforced disappearances and killings over the past 15 years, so that future generations can remember them.

He also said that despite widespread repression, BNP leaders and activists never went into hiding or adopted a covert strategy.

“I firmly believe that no one can suppress a party whose leaders and activists take such an uncompromising stand against injustice through conspiracy or propaganda.”

Tarique also said the only way for families of victims to receive justice under the country’s laws is to establish a democratic government that reflects the aspirations of the people.

Urging all to remain vigilant against any attempts by certain quarters to obstruct the country’s democratic transition, he said his party intends to keep showing restraint despite what he described as the Election Commission’s recent controversial positions.

“Those who are trying, using various pretexts, to create controversy and once again ruin the democratic path must not be allowed to succeed.”

Speaking at the event, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed recalled his own experience of enforced disappearance and said the families of the victims have one clear demand that his party will fulfill. “If Allah brings the BNP to power, justice will be delivered in all the cases of enforced disappearances and killings.”

Stating that Tarique’s northern region tour was postponed at the EC’s request, he said, “The Election Commission and a political party thought this was our weakness. But no, this is our decency. I am saying it again -- the way a certain political party is trying to cast doubt over the election, and trying to use various tactics to step away from the polls, we will not give them that opportunity.

“Let me issue a clear warning -- do not engage in any kind of conspiracy.”

When family members of missing victims spoke at the event holding photographs of their loved ones, the atmosphere was heavy with grief. Almost all of the dozen speakers broke down, with several unable to finish their speeches.

They all demanded that the BNP, if voted to power, ensures the trial of those responsible for enforced disappearances and that the families of the victims receive state support.

Adiba Islam Hridi, daughter of missing Chhatra Dal leader Parvez Hossain, said her father was taken from Shahbagh on December 2, 2013 -- when she was just two and a half years old. “Since then, I have grown up attending programmes like this with my mother,” she said as her voice shook.

“The commission [of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances] says we should assume that he is dead. Why? Is this mathematics, that we should just assume? Being part of a political party is not a crime….”

Safa, whose father Sohel was also a Chhatra Dal leader who went missing on December 2, 2013, said she was only two months old when he was taken away. “I have no memory of him…. My life feels incomplete without him.” She is now 13. 

Shahriar Kabir Ratul, son of missing BNP leader Humayan Kabir, said nearly 12 years have passed without any trace of him. “We have searched everywhere. Where is my father?”

Lamia Akter Mim was only three years old when her father, BNP activist Kausar Hossain, disappeared from Bashundhara Residential Area on December 4, 2013. “I don’t even know what it’s like to have a father. If I had known I would lose him, I would have held him close….”

Shammi Akter, wife of BNP activist Khalid Hasan, said it is unbearable to walk the streets carrying her husband’s photograph. “We only want to know where he is and to see justice done.”

Chhatra Dal leader Mazaharul Islam Russell’s sister Nusrat Jahan Laboni said her family has repeatedly faced harassment because of their political identity.

As Russell’s mother embraced Tarique and spoke, he listened in silence and offered comfort.

Missing BNP leader Ilias Ali’s wife Tahsina Rushdil Luna called for the rehabilitation of families destroyed by enforced disappearances.

Ilias was the organising secretary of Sylhet division BNP when he was forcibly disappeared from Dhaka on the night of April 17, 2012.