Felani’s 15th death anniversary observed

Kurigram Correspondent :

The 15th death anniversary of the deceased Felani held at her village home Colonitary under Nageshwari upazila in Kurigram at noon on Wednesday.

Milad Mahfil, Prayer near her grave and feeding among poor and distressed people was held.

On January 7, 2011, teenage daughter Felani of Nageshwari upazila was brutally killed by Indian Border Security Force (BSF) at the Fulbari border in Kurigram. Even after 15 years of the murder, the family has not been brought to justice for the murder of their daughter. Her family still cries in the hope of justice for Felani’s murder.

Felani’s father Nur Islam along with his family was living in India’s Assam at that time where he used to run a small tea stall. Fifteen-year-old Felani was supposed to get married in Bangladesh, said her family.

It is known that on the day of the incident, Nur Islam along with Felani was trying to come home to Bangladesh from India through the Anantapur border in Fulbari upazila of Kurigram by crossing the barbed wire fences.
Although Nur Islam managed to cross the fence, his daughter couldn’t do it quickly enough. Indian Border Security Force (BSF) member Amiya Ghosh fired shots and Felani died on the spot.

After remaining hanging for four and a half hours from the border fence, her body was taken away by BSF. It was handed over to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) 30 hours after the incident.

Felani’s father Nur Islam cannot forget the scene of his daughter being shot dead in front of his eyes. He cannot manage to sleep well at night to this day.

India faced severe criticism from human rights organizations worldwide over this incident. On August 13, 2013, the trial of Felani’s murder case began in the General Security Forces Court in Cooch Behar, the West Bengal Province in India. Felani’s father Nur Islam and her maternal uncle Hanif testified in the BSF court.

On September 6 of that year, the BSF special court acquitted the accused Amiya Ghosh. Felani’s father rejected the verdict and demanded a new trial. When the retrial began on September 22, 2014, Felani’s father only testified in the BSF court on November 17. On July 2, 2015, the court again acquitted the accused Amiya Ghosh.
After the verdict, on July 14 of the same year, the Indian Human Rights Protection Forum (Masum) filed a writ petition in the country’s Supreme Court on behalf of Felani’s father. The writ hearing began on October 6 of that year. After that, the hearing was postponed several times in 2016, 2017, and 2018. Later, on March 18, 2020, before the start of the coronavirus, the hearing was not held.

When the trial began, it seemed that justice would be served. But the way the trial is going on and the time is being spent shows that Felani’s family will not be able to get justice for her murder, locals opined. In addition, border killings and torture have not stopped even after Felani’s murder.

Felani’s mother Jahanara Begum said Felani was their eldest child. Felani left behind five siblings. Her younger sister Maleka Khatun is married. Brother Jahan Uddin, Arfan Ali, Akkas Ali and youngest sister Kajoli Akhter are studying.

Felani’s father Nur Islam and mother Jahanara Begum said, “Our child was brutally killed. We are waiting for justice. But even after 15 years, we have not received neither compensation, nor justice.”
It is mentioned here that a hall for female students of Rangpur Rokeya University was named after as “Shaheed Felani Hall” and a road in Dhaka from Gulshan-2 in the Diplomatic Zone to Pragati Sarani has been named as “Felani Avenue” in memory of Felani.