In Bangladesh, state-sponsored abductions to muzzle dissent could lead to a political crisis

It must have been terrifying. In the dead of the night on August 22, while retired Brigadier General Abdullahil Amaan Azmi slept in his Dhaka home with his wife and children, 30 Bangladesh policemen stormed his apartment block. They beat up the caretaker, went room to room until they found Azmi and took him away. No one has seen or heard from him since.

Terrifying, yes. Unusual? No. In Bangladesh, abductions, arbitrary detentions and extrajudicial killings make up just a small list of tactics employed by the current regime to deal with any kind of dissent. Amnesty International has described this spate of enforced disappearances as “completely routine”.

The dizzying spike in abductions is a regular accompaniment to the myriad security threats in Bangladesh. On July 1 in Dhaka, 22 innocent people were massacred at the Holey Artisan Bakery by men claiming to be affiliated with the Islamic State terrorist group. The Bangladesh Awami League government’s response to the deplorable crime – rather than the cause of the attack itself – reveals all you need to know about contemporary Bangladeshi politics.

Two clearly innocent men, who were actually hostages, were arrested for the attack. The police have presented absolutely no evidence to link them to the crime. They have also denied them access to their lawyers and families. One of the individuals, Hasnat Karim, is actually a British citizen who was at the restaurant celebrating his 13-year-old daughter’s birthday.

These stories have a personal significance for me. I have been told by the governing party leadership that I will be targeted for abduction and arrest if I dare enter the country. I champion human rights causes around the world, but my Bangladeshi heritage means that the dire situation in the country weighs particularly heavily on me.

The government masks its thuggery by spinning an alternative narrative – that Bangladesh is a safe country, a bastion of empowerment. Yet, one of the great tragedies of Bangladesh’s descent into autocracy is the insipid response of the international community.

International silence

A statement released by the Bangladesh mission to the United Nations, describing a meeting between its Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali and British Minister for Asia Alok Sharma, stated that Sharma had “appreciated Bangladesh for the way the present government is dealing with terrorism and violent extremism in the country”.

This is as naïve as it is wrong. In fact, it is Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s penchant for authoritarianism that is the actual catalyst of the collapse in domestic security. The way they deal with terrorism is far from what legitimate empowering democracies do.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly in New York, Hasina said, “Bangladesh will carry on promoting a culture of peace at the heart of the UN’s agenda.” She is right. Peace and security are indeed one of the three fundamental pillars of the United Nations. The other two, however, are human rights and development. Conveniently forgetting inconvenient facts is a recurring theme for the Bangladesh government. And despite what its mission to the United Nations may try to portray, Bangladesh is actually one of the British Foreign Office’s 30 Human Rights Priority Countries.

Missing hundreds

This year alone, over 14,000 people were taken by the police for their alleged connections to terrorism or the Opposition. Among them is Azmi. Although his father Ghulam Azam was found guilty of war crimes – in what all international observers found to be one of the most unjust trials in the country’s history – Azmi’s abduction is part of the wider political witch hunt of the Opposition.

Human rights groups estimate some 60 people have gone missing this year alone. About 300 over the seven years since the government has been in power. It is nothing short of a human rights crisis. But a political crisis also awaits Bangladesh as Hasina’s regime slowly loses legitimacy, resorting to rule through intimidation.

The list of illicit and callous abductions goes on and on. Mir Ahmed Bin Qasem and Hummam Qader Chowdhury were picked up in Dhaka by men in plainclothes. Authorities deny either one is in their custody. Like Azmi, both men are sons of prominent Opposition political leaders.

Furthermore, Sharma is no Hasina apologist. During a lengthy debate in the British Parliament about the deteriorating human rights situation in Bangladesh, the UK minister stated, “It is clear that extremism flourishes where there is a culture of intolerance and impunity, or where space for democratic challenge and debate is lacking.”

When Hasina came to power at the beginning of 2009, there were very few instances of domestic terror attacks. Her administration has since alienated and oppressed the moderate middle ground. It is unsurprising, therefore, that attacks have increased significantly. And still, the world remains largely silent on the situation.

Each horrific abduction tells its own story – of families broken and communities divided. By muzzling the Opposition and toying with the country’s political and religious groups, Hasina risks creating another tinderbox in the region. The international community’s ignorance to this tragedy will come back to haunt us all. There must be an end to this apathy and a rethink of policy towards Bangladesh. Otherwise, the abductees and their families will be forgotten amid the chaos that is beginning to define modern-day Bangladesh.

The writer is a Bangladeshi-born British imam, broadcaster and politician.