"Are They Alive?": Bangladesh Families' Wait For Missing Members Continues

When students across Bangladesh took to the streets against Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister, it wasn't just against her policies. The demonstrators called for an end to what they described as "autocratic" rule, where you survived only if you toed the government line.

Political opponents, protesters said, had long been followed, with hundreds even disappearing mysteriously, leaving their families in limbo. Many of those who went missing were politically active and belonged to parties opposing Hasina and her Awami League. Since 2009, around 600 men have vanished under mysterious circumstances, according to reports. 

The Student Uprising

Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule ended in August 2024 after a popular student uprising left her no option but to resign and flee the country. With her exit, families of the disappeared feel this may finally be their chance to speak openly and demand justice.

Kumara Fihi, whose father disappeared under mysterious circumstances, has been protesting in downtown Dhaka. Holding a photograph of her father, she told NPR that he went missing 14 years ago and her family has no official information about him. She said they didn't even know whether her father was alive.

"If he's dead, please inform us. My mother has lived in a fog of sadness for years. This has destroyed our happy family. This has destroyed our life," she said.

Sanjida Islam Tuli's brother disappeared 13 years ago

Tuli's brother, Sajedul Islam Sumon, an opponent of Hasina, disappeared in 2013 along with five other men. Years later, she learned through a Facebook post that he was dead.

A young relative, Afrin Joon, explains that the family came to know about Sumon's death after an exiled journalist posted a detailed update on social media. Tuli said she and her family had no official confirmation of Sumon's death.

For years, Tuli held onto hope that Hasina would one day be removed from power. She believed that once the government changed, prisons would open, political prisoners would be released, and her brother would return home.

A decade without answers

Parvez Hossain was a grassroots member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP). He was taken away by police shortly before Bangladesh's December 2013 national elections. Hossain never returned home.

His daughter, Hridhi, who was two years old at that time, said, "For the last 10 years, I have been told that my father will come back, but this wait never ends. I want to be hugged by my father. I want to celebrate Father's Day."

Allegations against Sheikh Hasina's paramilitary force

Families of the disappeared blame the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), a powerful paramilitary force in Bangladesh, for the enforced disappearances of their loved ones. RAB was directly answerable to the government led by Hasina.

In 2021, the United States State Department imposed sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion and some of its senior officials. The government, however, consistently denied any involvement in enforced disappearances.

In 2018, Bangladesh's then minister in charge of security made a controversial statement, saying that many of the disappeared men had likely fled because of bad debts or personal problems.

Asif Nazrul, a law professor at Dhaka University, said, "They [government] believe that by instilling fear among people, they would silence all and keep doing all the wrong things like stealing elections and plundering people's money. But this will change. They will have to answer for their crimes."

Secret detention for five years

Michael Chakma, a Bangladeshi Indigenous rights activist, was held for five years in a secret prison allegedly run by Bangladesh's military intelligence.

He alleged, "There was no window, and I had no way to tell time, or whether it was day or night. I was in a dark, enclosed space, and when the light was turned on, it was too bright for me to see properly. Most of the time, I was handcuffed and shackled."

Interim government signed treaty to promise protection

Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, who became head of the country's interim government, has signed an international agreement, called "International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearances", that promises protection against enforced disappearances.

"It is a historic occasion," Yunus said, pledging to investigate cases of missing persons during Sheikh Hasina's rule since 2009.