The police on Tuesday stopped a procession of relatives of jailed leaders and activists of opposition parties, including the main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party, towards the Supreme Court as they wanted to submit a memorandum to the chief justice demanding the release of their loved ones.
The relatives took the move following a human chain held in front of the National Press Club under the banner of ‘Relatives of State Prisoners.’
Dozens of BNP leaders and activists’ family members joined the human chain.
The wife of BNP leader Abul Basar, who died in jail, said, ‘My child was orphaned as the police arrested my husband and tortured him to death. I want justice for the murder of my husband.’
Dhaka Metropolitan BNP leader Leon Haque and Rajib Hasan’s sister Afroza Parvin Jeba said, ‘The police arrested my two brothers. Of them, one was made to disappear for one month before he was shown arrested.’
‘A year ago, my brother-in-law was shot dead by RAB in Lakshmipur. He used to work for BNP. When we bribed Tk 20 lakh, RAB gave us the body - they didn’t even want to give the body at first,’ she alleged.
The wife of the Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal senior vice president, SM Jahangir Hossain, said, ‘Where should I go? The plaintiff in my husband’s case is the police. The police filed the case, and the police gave statements to the court as witnesses. What kind of justice is this? When protesting such injustice in front of the judge in court, the judge tells us to shut up.’
Dhaka Metropolitan BNP leader Abdul Hai Bhuiyan said police had arrested his three sons and the wife of one son.
Mina Akhtar, wife of BNP leader Kausar Hossain, who went missing in 2013, said, ‘My child is 13 years old. He still hasn’t seen his father. When he says mom if I cannot see my father’s face, I can not help but cry.’
Mentioning that the leaders and activists of the BNP have suffered a lot, Mahila Dal president Afroza Abbas said, ‘My house was bombed a few days ago. What a horrible sight that is! Fortunately, my grandchildren were not home that day but all at school. On that day, the police took away all kinds of gadgets. Even CCTV footage has been taken away.’
BNP standing committee member Selima Rahman said that since October 28, more than 20,000 leaders and activists of the BNP have been arrested.
‘Today these leaders and activists are tortured on remand, and their family members are harassed,’ she said.
Earlier in the day, the BNP sent a memorandum demanding justice and the release of BNP leaders and activists through a courier service.
Leaders of the parties of the BNP-led movement also spoke at the programme.
