Sunday , 22 December, 2024 | 8 পৌষ, 1431 Bangabdo
Published: 11:49 14 August 2024
Blindfolded, handcuffed - Barrister Arman, son of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Kashem Ali, was brought out of a secret prison after eight years. Afraid of what was going to happen… he then heard a gunshot.
But instead of being shot, he was thrown alive from the car in a muddy area on the outskirts of Dhaka. After independence, Barrister Arman had no idea that the student revolution was going on in the country. He was released from eight years of imprisonment after the mass revolution.
Barrister Arman told news agency AFP, "In eight years of service, I have the first free air. I thought they were going to kill me."
Barrister Arman was imprisoned for eight years by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. But he was forced to flee in the face of mass revolution.
His long 15-year dictatorship came to an abrupt end in the face of that mass revolution. These included mass arrests and extrajudicial killings of his opponents.
Barrister Armaan was held in a secret prison. Those who live in this prison see no one but themselves. Barrister Armaan, son of Mir Kashem, was locked in a windowless room.
He said that the guards of this secret prison used to play loud music all the time. That's why he didn't hear the call to prayer and didn't understand when it was time for a prayer. Besides, there was no way to know how long he was stuck. But when the music stopped, he realized that he was not alone in this prison. There are many others. Because he could hear others screaming and crying.
Last year, Human Rights Watch reported that security forces had carried out more than 600 disappearances since coming to power in 2009.
The secret prison first came to light in 2022. A whistleblower gave information about it that year. But Hasina's government rejected this demand. They even spread false propaganda that many of the missing persons had died while crossing the sea.
Barrister Arman also said that her father, who was hanged for war crimes, went missing days before he was hanged. At that time he was fighting a legal battle for his father. He was speaking openly in the media. He was complaining about his father's trial. But he did not know that he could be targeted for doing these things.
“One night they attacked my house. I never imagined that I could be missing days before my father's execution. I keep telling them, do you know who I am? I have to continue my case. Be with the family.”
Four weeks after his disappearance, Mir Kashem Ali was hanged. But he found out after three years. A prison guard mistakenly informs him that his father has been executed.
Barrister Arman thanked the students for his free life. He said, “The whole thing has been made possible by some youngsters. When I see these children, children. I really hope this will be an opportunity where Bangladesh will find a new direction.”
Hasina government has not only disappeared barrister Arman. His family was warned every year not to talk about the disappearance.
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