A recent resolution moved by the European Parliament on Bangladesh has sparked condemnation from minority community leaders.
They believe the projection of the “controversial” entity Odhikar’s two officials as “defender and staunch advocate for rights issues” is a shot in the arm for radical groups as the resolution completely ignored a disinformation campaign to “justify killings of bloggers and freethinkers” and to defend extremist elements that publicly deem minorities as “enemies of Islam”.
The resolution deplored prison sentences of Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan and Director Nasiruddin Elan and called on the Bangladesh government to “immediately and unconditionally rescind the penalty and reinstate Odikhar's registration.”
"If we look back at the mayhem unleashed by Hefazat-e-Islam, in league with other hardliners including Jamaat-e-Islami, on May 5, 2013 in the capital, and the set of demands pressed by these ‘ultra radical forces’, it was clear they they were revolved around installation of a Taliban type rule for the country where minorities would be attacked, tortured and forced to flee ceaselessly with full impunity for the attackers," said Advocate Rana Das Gupta, secretary general of the country’s largest minority group Bangladesh Hindu Buddhist Christian Oikya Parishad.
Days after the police intervention, Odhikar came up with a report that not only presented inflated causality toll, claiming 61 activists died, but also completely turned a blind eye to the radical demands from these groups and their strong aversion towards minorities as the report described Hefazat as “any other social non-political and cultural orgazination” that “aims to take into consideration socio economic cultural political matters that affects the values and practices of Islam,” added Das Gupta.
Read: Fakhrul demands immediate release of Odhikar’s Adilur, Nasiruddin
“The report also concealed the active participation of Jamaat-e-Islami and other radical groups that expressed solidarity with these outright communal demands,” the minority leader said.
“But the reality is, had the law enforcers not intervened, it would have turned into attacks on minorities as well as on secular and progressive individuals,” he added.
Only after police intervened to subdue these radical elements, Odhikar came up with a report claiming that the drive left as many as “61 activists killed” and projected them as “activists out to restore democracy” — turning a blind eye to their demands that belied the basic tenets of democracy.
The Daily Star, on September 1, 2013, published a report on Odhikar's list, calling it “A list riddled with holes”.
“Nineteen are traceless, five named twice, three alive. Six died in Narayanganj violence and one of heart attack. Slot number 10 is left vacant.
These are the holes a police investigation has found in the rights body ‘Odhikar's list of 61 people killed in the crackdown on Hefazat at Motijheel Shapla Chattar in the early hours of May 6.’
“The remaining 26 were not killed in the operation either,” The Daily Star report said.
Odhikar clearly and deliberately peddled the narrative as if writings of bloggers are some sort of justification for their killing.
“With their report, Odhikar, I would like to say Adilur and his associate, not only confused or instigated the public, but also operated as the mouthpiece for ultra-radical forces”, the minority leader added.
Calling out the resolution, alongside statements from different international rights bodies “a sheer act of hypocrisy,” Das Gupta said, “At the hands of these radical forces, as advocated by Adilur and his associates, minorities are attacked, killed and forced to leave the country but ironically we have not seen similar clamor from these organizations to address our plights.”
Basherkella, exposed as a mouthpiece for Jamaat-e-Islami, a radical group whose leaders committed crimes against humanity — along with the Pakistan army — in 1971 to stop the birth of Bangladesh and perpetrated ruthless attacks against minorities, also tweeted for freeing Adilur, hailing him as “a champion for standing to the cause of human rights” with the “Free Adilur” hashtag.
Read more: Odhikar’s Adilur, Nasiruddin get 2-year jail in ICT case
Ironically, just months back, Basherkella posted a series of hate campaign against the minority Ahmadiyya community, condemning police action to stop the violence over an Ahmadiyya religious event in Panchagarh town that left the minority community shocked and bewildered.