United News of Bangladesh

President Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday pledged to ensure justice for victims of enforced disappearances, saying Bangladesh would never again allow “Aynaghar” or secret detention centres to exist. “Let me state clearly as the President of Bangladesh: there will be no more  ‘Aynaghar’ in this independent Bangladesh. No mother will have to shed tears waiting for her child, and no wife will have to wait for her husband,” he said. The President was addressing a discussion marking the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances 2026 at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka. He said all perpetrators involved in enforced disappearances would be brought before the law and face the highest punishment as per law. The President also stressed that the state’s responsibility would not end with punishing the perpetrators. “The state must also assume responsibility for the dignity, social security, healthcare, education, livelihoods and rehabilitation of families who have endured years of uncertainty, financial hardship and mental suffering while waiting for their loved ones,” he said. Recalling the victims of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh and elsewhere in the world, the President expressed deep sympathy for their families who have spent years waiting for the return of their loved ones. He described enforced disappearance as not an ordinary crime but a crime against humanity and a grave violation of human rights. “Enforced disappearance does not merely take away a person. It takes away the happiness, peace, dreams and economic and social security of their loved ones,” he said. Referring to the past 15 years, the President said enforced disappearances, secret detention centres and killings were used to silence those who protested against injustice, expressed dissent or demanded democratic rights. He said state institutions under the previous “fascist government” repeatedly denied such serious crimes. The President recalled the cases of BNP leader Ilias Ali, ward commissioner Chowdhury Alam and ward-level BNP leader Sajedul Islam Sumon, among others, saying their families continued to live with pain, uncertainty and expectation. President Fakhrul also referred to lawyer Barrister Arman, retired Lieutenant General Azmi and many dissidents, officials, writers, journalists, social workers, homemakers and ordinary citizens who were kept in the secret detention facility known as “Aynaghar” for years. Some victims fortunately returned, while many others have never come back, he said. The President said the culture of enforced disappearances and killing created an atmosphere of fear and terror in a country that was liberated in 1971 through the sacrifices of freedom fighters who fought for democracy, equality, freedom of expression and human dignity.