Bangladesh Awami League President and Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina has strongly condemned and protested the ongoing mass arrests, mass raids and torture in Gopalganj and across the country.
In a statement issued today, she said today’s Bangladesh has become a land of mass arrests, mass raids, torture, false cases, extrajudicial killings and human rights violations. There is no law, no rights and no public safety in the country. Bangladesh, won through the great Liberation War, has reached an extreme level of impunity. Opening one’s eyes means seeing unknown bodies; rotting corpses in rivers, canals and wetlands have become a daily occurrence.
The five-time prime minister expressed astonishment that a state could be so inhuman as to take the country down such a path devoid of humanity.
She alleged that the ruling group, having come to power through a rigged election, is frightened by public discontent and is conducting block raids and mass arrests through law-enforcement agencies in various areas of Gopalganj and across the country. Five to seven thousand people are being arrested every day. There is no space left in the prisons. At the same time, torture and repression of those arrested and their family members have exposed the autocratic character of the government. She registered her strong condemnation and protest against such oppression and injustice.
She further stated that the people of the country have no guarantee of natural death, funeral rites or burial. There is not even the right to engage in Awami League activities. The government that came to power through a rigged election is clearly on a mission to make the country free of the Awami League. Especially in Gopalganj, due to the pincer operations of law-enforcement agencies, no one can live in the area. Mass arrests and torture have become ordinary, everyday events. What is extremely worrying, she said, is that the picture of Gopalganj is now the picture of the whole of Bangladesh. She demanded ordinary rights and legal protection for the people of the country.
On one side, people are fed up with the occupation, looting, extortion, murder, rape and torture by so-called government and opposition leaders and activists, and with the seizure of the political rights of a vast population. On the other side, due to the looting mentality of the government, there is an extreme economic crisis, shortages of gas, electricity, fuel and fertiliser, investment has stopped, mills and factories are closing every day, unemployment is rising, prices of essentials are soaring, freedom of speech has been taken away, people are being dismissed from jobs under various pretexts, and the public is bewildered by countless other problems and crises. In this situation, the government is attacking people’s normal way of life and residence and establishing a reign of terror. Frightened by the rise of the power of the people, the government has begun to intimidate the public through law-enforcement agencies and party goons. While this is unimaginable in a civilised country, the reality is that this is the natural outcome of the successive rise of a world-class thief following the world-class bat-par. She said she is not surprised by this, but rather expresses deep concern about the future of the country.
Condemning and protesting the pincer operations of law-enforcement agencies across the country, mass arrests, mass raids, torture, false cases, extrajudicial killings and all forms of injustice and oppression, she clearly stated: “Immediately stop the mass arrests and mass raids. The people have awakened. They will return home only after answering for everything and taking answers for everything. The Bangladesh Awami League stands with the people.”