‘Give our fathers back before Eid’

Staff Reporter  :
A line of children standing with their mothers and guardians beside the major thoroughfare of the capital on Sunday pleaded with the concerned authorities to return their fathers who have reportedly been victims of enforced disappearances for many years ago before Eid-ul-Azha.
With sobbing tears rolling down their cheeks and photographs of their fathers pressed on their chests, these children were only pleading for the return of their fathers as they want to go to Eidgah, holding hands with the fathers.

The appeal came from a human chain organised by Mayer Dak held in front of the Jatiya Press Club in the capital. Ahead of the United Nations International Day in Support of Victims of Torture on June 26, the organisation arranged the event.

Along with the children, the mothers and the wives of the individuals who have been the victims of enforced disappearances, as they said, wanted to know whether their sons or husbands were alive.
Breaking down in tears, the family members said, “How will we recount our stories so that you can understand our sufferings? To whom shall we narrate our tales of sorrows? Where will we get redress of it?”
Presiding over the human chain, coordinator of Mayer Dak Afroza Akhtar said, “The family members have been the victims of enforced disappearances for five years, seven years, one decade or one era.”
“If our relatives are the accused, hold trial under due process,” she said.

The sobbing children were saying : “We don’t have any pleasure and delights in Eid. Give our fathers back before Eid.”
Rina Alam, the wife of Nur Alam, has accused personnel from the law enforcement agency visited their residence repeatedly and inquired of Nur Alam’s whereabouts.
She questioned why such harsh treatment was being inflicted upon them, stating, “Why are they engaging in this cruel behavior towards us? When we go to the law enforcers we are told that the missing person went abroad illegally and drowned in the sea. They are making fun of us in this manner.”

Sanjida Aktar has urged the United Nations not to include members who are involved in the incidents of enforced disappearance and killing in the peacekeeping missions.
She has also called upon the UN to talk to the affected family members and take measures to address the issue.
Furthermore, she demanded that those individuals who have gone missing should be returned before the upcoming Eid-ul-Azha to their families.