Former High Court justice and former chair of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances Moinul Islam Chowdhury described enforced disappearance as more horrifying than death at a Saturday symposium in the capital. Speaking at the event titled “Human Rights Situation in Bangladesh: A Review,” he said families of disappeared people do not know where their relatives are and remain trapped in prolonged uncertainty.

Chowdhury said death allows families to grieve and complete burial rites, while disappearance leaves them suspended between hope and despair. He said affected families can face social stigma, financial hardship and isolation as they live with unanswered questions about their loved ones.

He said enforced disappearances became widespread during the previous Awami League government, when, in his view, state repression centered on the practice. He said the situation ended through the July movement of 2024. Chowdhury also alleged that the state apparatus often portrayed victims as criminals to justify such actions, while law-enforcement and intelligence officials were dehumanized under high-level instructions to facilitate them.

National Parliament Whip and Natore-2 MP Advocate Ruhul Quddus Talukdar Dulu accused the Awami League of turning Bangladesh into an “empty basket” during what he described as 17 years of misrule and then fleeing to India. He made the remarks on Saturday at about 11 a.m. during a cheque-distribution event for development institutions and poor patients at the Natore District Council premises.

Dulu alleged that major projects during the Awami League period were undertaken to enable party leaders, activists and relatives of Sheikh Hasina to loot public money. He claimed that funds were embezzled and transferred abroad, and said people who steal government money would be sent to jail. He also alleged that Awami League-linked figures were spreading misinformation from a neighbouring country.

He said there would be no place for terrorists or extortionists in Natore, and pledged to establish a medical college and university there and arrange jobs for educated unemployed youth. The event was chaired by District Council administrator and district BNP convener Rahim Newaz, with local officials and BNP leaders among the speakers.

The National Citizen Party, or NCP, ultimately held its organisational coordination meeting at the Brahmanbaria District Shilpakala Academy on Saturday night after a day of uncertainty over the venue. The event received renewed approval at 5:30pm and began at 7pm, with central chief organiser Sarjis Alam and leaders from central and local levels in attendance.

The meeting had initially been planned for the Shilpakala Academy, but tensions arose after the Qaumi Chhatra Oikya Parishad announced a programme at the same location. The administration later informed organisers that the academy venue had been cancelled, prompting consideration of Shaheed Dhirendranath Datta Bhasha Chattar and then the District Council auditorium.

Earlier on Saturday afternoon, NCP leaders met Qaumi students at Jamia Islamia Yunusia Madrasa. Following the meeting, the Qaumi students withdrew their announced programme at the academy and said they would not obstruct the NCP event. After prolonged discussions and several venue changes, the academy was again designated as the meeting site.

Speakers at an AB Party seminar in the Tofazzal Hossain Manik Miah Hall of the National Press Club on Saturday warned that replacing the disappearance ordinance with a new law could create opportunities for immunity rather than ensure justice for enforced disappearances. They said ending the culture of disappearances requires a strong law, an independent investigation system and prosecution of every responsible person, including those who gave orders.

BNP media cell convener Dr. Moudud Hossain Alamgir Pavel said a weak police system could not effectively investigate or prosecute an offence as serious as disappearance. FSDS chairman Fazle Elahi Akbar welcomed the government’s committee on the issue but said committees alone would not solve the problem, citing past failures of committees formed on various issues.

BNP lawmaker Hummam Qader Chowdhury said rumours had circulated about the proposed anti-disappearance law, while extensive research had been conducted before drafting it. He said the force accused of a disappearance would not investigate the allegation and that bringing those who ordered disappearances to justice had been considered. Barrister Zubayer Ahmed Bhuiyan said disappearances also leave families in prolonged fear, uncertainty and mental suffering.

Sitakunda Municipal Executive Officer Md Nazrul Islam has acknowledged living in an official room at the municipal building for nearly a decade, saying he stays there to guard the premises like a night watchman rather than for personal convenience. The arrangement, his lengthy tenure at the same workplace and questions surrounding transfer orders have prompted concerns over the use of public property and funds.

More than Tk 400,000 in electricity bills for June and July has also drawn scrutiny. Islam said the amount covers not only the municipal building but also streetlights in all nine wards, and that the bills were calculated on an average basis because the municipality lacks card meters. However, no itemized breakdown has been disclosed separating building consumption from streetlight costs or identifying any personal electricity use.

Former councillor Shamsul Alam Azad said Islam had served almost continuously in Sitakunda since 2015 despite transfers. A May 21, 2024 order transferred him to Kaliganj municipality in Gazipur, though its later status requires document verification. A new order posts him to Shibpur municipality in Narsingdi, where he is due to join by September 1.

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar alleged that extortion, intimidation, repression, looting and political favoritism have returned under the current government. He made the remarks as chief guest at a Jamaat rally at Terokhada’s new bus stand on Saturday, August 29. He said the government was moving along nearly the same path as the Awami League, which, he said, had been removed from power over similar accusations.

Parwar said people across Bangladesh had sought a corruption-free and discrimination-free country, expecting an end to repression of dissent, terrorism, extortion, money laundering and wrongful detention, killings, cases and remand. He questioned the government’s performance after the election, arguing that six months was not too short a period to assess it. He also alleged political discrimination in lists for farmer cards and family cards, claiming people outside BNP were being excluded.

Referring to law and order in Khulna, Parwar alleged increased violence and armed conflict in Rupsa. He demanded implementation of the July Charter and said consensus had been reached on 84 reforms through 72 meetings over nine months. After the rally, he introduced candidates for upazila chairman, vice chairman and union parishad chairman and urged voters to elect them.

Lawmakers, lawyers, former military officers and returned victims of enforced disappearance criticised a draft law on disappearances at a discussion in Banglamotor, Dhaka, on Saturday. The event, organised by rights group Odhikar for the International Day of the Disappeared, heard objections to provisions that could imprison a complainant for five years if an allegation cannot be proven and allow police to investigate disappearance cases.

BNP lawmaker A M Mahbub Uddin Khokon said victims or relatives may not know who carried out a disappearance and questioned whether police could properly verify such allegations. Jamaat lawmaker and returned victim Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem called the draft a “garbage law,” arguing that it interferes with constitutionally recognised freedom of expression and limits legal remedies. Returned victim Abdullah Al Amin said placing the burden of proof on victims was inhumane where state institutions allegedly destroy evidence.

Odhikar placed three demands before the government. It called for investigations to be assigned to an independent National Human Rights Commission rather than law-enforcement agencies, legal arrangements for families of people who have not returned to manage bank accounts and transfer property, and withdrawal of cases described as false against returned victims.

Nurul Islam Bulbul, MP for Chapainawabganj-3 and amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Dhaka South, criticised the government over electricity and fuel shortages, rising commodity prices, corruption and mismanagement at a student-youth gathering in Bholahat, Chapainawabganj, on Friday evening. He said a new Bangladesh should be built by implementing the referendum verdict and reforming the constitution.

Bulbul alleged that corruption, inefficiency and mismanagement had disrupted normal state operations and burdened ordinary people. He said 62,000 employees had lost jobs and 41 power plants had become inoperative, while the government had failed to ensure uninterrupted electricity. He also criticised increases in fuel, oil, gas and commodity prices, saying they had made daily life difficult.

Addressing border issues, Bulbul alleged that people in India who are Muslim and Bengali-speaking were being pushed into Bangladesh, creating an economic burden, and said people were being killed indiscriminately at the border. He called for a safe, humane and liveable country based on justice and fairness. Other speakers included MPs Dr Mu. Mizanur Rahman and local Jamaat and Islami Chhatra Shibir leaders.

Qawmi Chhatra Oikya Parishad has warned that it will not allow National Citizen Party (NCP) programmes in Brahmanbaria unless lawmaker Hasnat Abdullah publicly apologises to local residents. The warning was issued at a brief rally outside the Brahmanbaria Press Club late Friday night, following a protest march that began in the city’s Kandipara area and travelled along the main road.

Speakers at the rally strongly criticised Hasnat’s remarks in parliament concerning recent incidents in Brahmanbaria. They raised slogans against him and demanded that he apologise publicly to the people of the district over the statement.

The speakers said that otherwise they would prevent an already scheduled NCP organisational coordination meeting and political workshop from taking place at the District Shilpakala Academy on Saturday afternoon. Earlier on Thursday, Hasnat had sharply criticised the government in parliament for failing to take effective action after cultural programmes were stopped at police lines in Kishoreganj and Brahmanbaria.

The Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party alliance has announced support for a march toward the National Parliament and the submission of a memorandum to the Speaker, marking International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances on August 30. The alliance disclosed its position in a press release sent to the media on Saturday.

Hamidur Rahman Azad, coordinator of the 11-party alliance and assistant secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, said the programme will be organised by the National Committee for the Prevention of Enforced Disappearances. The march is scheduled to begin at 3pm on Sunday from in front of Rupayan Tower in Banglamotor, Dhaka.

Participants will proceed in a procession toward the parliament complex and submit a memorandum to the Speaker in front of the parliament building. The 11-party alliance said it fully supports the programme and called on its leaders, activists and the public to participate spontaneously to ensure its overall success.

The National Committee for Observing the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances has called on people of all political affiliations to join a march toward the National Parliament on Sunday afternoon. The programme includes submitting a memorandum to the Speaker and will begin at 3pm from Banglamotor in the capital, according to a joint statement issued on Saturday.

Professor Dilara Chowdhury, convener of the committee, and its joint convener Brigadier General (retd) Hasinur Rahman Bir Protik made the appeal. They alleged that Bangladesh had experienced widespread enforced disappearances over the past 17 years, describing abductions from homes, detention in “Aynaghar,” torture, killings and disposal of bodies as grave human rights violations.

The leaders said a strict law to prevent enforced disappearances must be enacted to block the path of fascism and help build a “new Bangladesh” after the fall of the Awami League on August 5, 2024. They urged patriotic and conscious citizens to participate in the march and support assurances of the law’s enactment and enforcement.

Senior Bangladesh Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Mohammad Shishir Monir said people will never receive the benefits of law unless justice and good governance are established in society. He made the remarks on Saturday as a special guest at a freshman reception organized by the Chittagong University branch of Islami Chhatra Shibir at the Faculty of Social Sciences auditorium.

Monir urged people to rise above personal and partisan narrowness and place national interests first, saying the central objective of any work should be the country’s welfare. He said Bangladesh needs talented and qualified young people who can spread the country’s reputation globally through their knowledge and work. He also described the executive, judiciary and legislature as the state’s three foundational pillars.

He said high office alone does not make a person respected; rather, a post gains respect through an individual’s competence, principles and work. The event was chaired by branch president and Chaksu vice president Ibrahim Hossain Roni, while central Shibir president Nurul Islam Saddam attended as chief guest. About 3,000 students joined the two-part programme and received items including copies of the Quran, stationery, books, T-shirts and framed photographs of the central library.

Mohammad Selim Uddin, chairman of Nagar Unnayan Forum and a Dhaka North City Corporation mayoral candidate, said Quran memorizers must play an important role in building a future Bangladesh based on justice and fairness. He made the remarks on Saturday as chief guest at the Mohammadpur zone selection round of the Hifzul Quran Competition 2026, held at Badsha Faisal Institute in Shyamoli, Dhaka, to mark Siratun Nabi.

Selim Uddin called for Quranic law to operate from homes to parliament and said the country should be governed according to Quranic rules. He urged young Quran memorizers not to remain limited to mosques and madrasas, but to develop the qualifications to provide leadership across all levels of the state. He also discussed following the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad.

He announced that all nine winners across the competition’s three groups would be sent for Umrah. Special guest Dr Muhammad Rezaul Karim said unity among Islamic scholars could help establish justice in Dhaka. Organizers said selected contestants would take part in subsequent stages leading to a final round.

The government has adopted a package of measures to address severe traffic congestion in Dhaka, modernise traffic management and restore order in public transport. Decisions were taken at a Saturday meeting at the Prime Minister’s Tejgaon office, chaired by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. The plan includes introducing electronic toll collection at expressway and flyover toll plazas, relocating Fulbaria bus terminal to Keraniganj, and building a temporary bus terminal on 15 acres at the Jhilmil project within four months.

Authorities were instructed to develop an app for the electronic toll system and complete the work within four months. BUET has been asked to review its earlier report on congestion around the Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover and submit a new report with recommendations within 15 days. The city corporation and traffic police will jointly implement this work.

The meeting also approved expanding the rear section of Gabtali bus terminal and moving Karwan Bazar’s kitchen market to Gabtali. Officials will examine parking facilities at Osmani Memorial Hall and seek alternatives near the Secretariat. A separate policy for autorickshaws will be prepared, while action was ordered against unauthorised double-decker sleeper buses.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman said Bangladesh has begun investigations and judicial proceedings into every enforced disappearance case, while preparing a separate legal framework to prevent the crime in the future. In a message issued Saturday ahead of Sunday’s International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, he described enforced disappearance as among the world’s worst crimes and an extreme violation of human rights.

Rahman expressed sympathy for disappeared people and their families in Bangladesh and worldwide. He said such abuses occur particularly under authoritarian systems and in politically conflict-ridden regions, where security or law-enforcement agencies may target anti-government movements and dissenting political leaders. He alleged that Bangladesh’s former “fascist” government used abduction and disappearance to suppress democratic and political rights, with secret detention sites known publicly as Aynaghar.

Citing domestic and international human rights groups, he said at least 700 people were disappeared at different times. He said the Prevention and Remedy of Enforced Disappearance Bill, 2026, and the National Human Rights Commission Bill, 2026, have been introduced in parliament. Rahman called for global unity and accountability under this year’s theme, “Victims First, Actions Now.”