Khaleda for probe commission

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday demanded that the government form a "credible and effective" commission to investigate all incidents of abduction, forced disappearances and killings till date.
"Headed by a former chief justice, the commission could comprise senior lawyers, journalists and human rights activists," she said, adding that the commission should also probe incidents in which law enforcers themselves broke the law to create an "anarchic situation".
The programme was held at Khaleda's Gulshan office four hours after the scheduled time as police barred the BNP from holding it at the planned venue -- Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB).
Referring to the brutal seven-murder in Narayanganj, Khaleda said the members of the Rapid Action Battalion were working as "hired killers and abductors".
In the written speech, the former premier again demanded that the Rab be disbanded and replaced with a "disciplined force with transparency, accountability and ethical standards".
Mentioning that armed forces officers had been leading the Rab, she said, "Therefore, the controversy over Rab activities is putting the image of the country's armed forces at stake".
Khaleda claimed her government had formed the Rab to combat militancy and serious crimes. "But it is now being used to terrify people and suppress opposition movements.”
The government was using the elite force to oppress the opposition, she alleged.
She demanded that all leaders and activists of the BNP, who were picked up allegedly by law enforcers, be returned alive.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir talks to a police official at the Institute of Engineers, Bangladesh (IEB) in the capital yesterday as he learns that permission for a meeting called by the party at the IEB auditorium was cancelled. Inset, the locked gate of the IEB auditorium. Photo: Star

The BNP chief also urged the government to ensure that no arrest was made by personnel in plainclothes and any arrest should be made in the presence of a witness and, if possible, a magistrate.
Referring to the gruesome killing of Phulgazi upazila chairman Ekramul Haque, Khaleda said media reports and the victim's family suggest that it is the people of Awami League who killed him. However, members of the same party now are creating chaos in Feni following the murder.
However, she did not say anything about the police obstruction on holding the programme at the IEB.
Families of seven BNP men, who have been allegedly picked up by law enforcers and have remained missing ever since, met the BNP chairperson at the programme. Leading citizens, including Professor Piash Karim and Dilara Chowdhury, also spoke at the discussion.
The programme was scheduled to start at 3:00pm at the IEB. However, a police team headed by Sirajul Islam, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station, went to the IEB around 11:00am and asked the BNP leaders and activists, who were preparing the venue, to leave.
At one stage, the IEB authorities were forced to lock the main entrance of the auditorium at around 11:30am.
Shibli Noman, assistant commissioner (Ramna zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, who was there, said the BNP was barred from holding the programme as it did not have permission.
BNP leaders Barkat Ullah Bulu, Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee and Abul Khair Bhuiyan then went to the DMP commissioner around 2:20pm to seek permission but, according to sources, could not meet him.
According to the BNP chairperson's adviser Jainul Abedin, the party had applied to the DMP on Wednesday morning for the permission but did not receive any response.
BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir with others left the IEB area around 3:45pm, fearing arrest when police brought a prison van at the venue.
Fakhrul alleged that the law enforcers “illegally and undemocratically” foiled the programme.
“The government's undemocratic attitude has been exposed through this,” said the BNP spokesperson.
Eminent lawyer barrister Rafiqul Haque came to the IEB to attend the programme around 3:40pm only to find the venue under lock and key.
Criticising this, he said the government should not display such behaviour as it violates the fundamental rights of the people.