Tarique Rahman breaks down hearing cries of families of the disappeared

BNP chairman Tarique Rahman broke down in tears after hearing the anguish of family members of people who were subjected to enforced disappearance and killings during past democratic movements.

Relatives shared their desperate pleas to get back their loved ones who went missing. Some spoke of the unbearable lives they have been leading after losing their husbands, while others broke down upon meeting Tarique Rahman, unable to hold back their grief.

He became emotional on Saturday, January 17, during an exchange meeting with families of victims of enforced disappearance, killings and torture from the previous government era, held at the China–Bangladesh Friendship Conference Centre in the capital.

The programme was jointly organised by Mayer Dak and Amra BNP Poribar, with families from different parts of the country attending.

Shafa, the daughter of a father who was forcibly disappeared during what she described as the Awami fascist government, said, my father was disappeared when I was just two months old, now I am 13 years old. I have never seen my father’s face. I went to many places holding his photograph but found no trace of him. I have no memories with my father. We want our father back. We have said this many times but never got him back.

Ratul, the son of another disappeared person Parvez, said his father and uncle were taken together by RAB. Twelve years have passed and it has now entered the thirteenth year, yet we have not found any information. For 13 years we have been wandering from street to street.

Listening to these tearful appeals, Tarique Rahman eventually began sobbing on the stage. The victims’ families demanded the return of their loved ones and fair justice from the authorities. Many expressed their wish to see Tarique Rahman up close and share their pain personally. Some were taken to him on the stage, where he spoke with them individually for a while.