International Day in Support of Victims of Torture is going to be observed on 26th June. Marking the Day, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Nayeb-e-Ameer and former MP Professor Mujibur Rahman has issued the following statement on 25th June.
“The incumbent government has been continuing repression and torture against the citizens of the country, particularly against the opposition leaders and activists in various ways. The authority has put the dissident voices into prison for years without any trial procedure. General masses are not secured anymore. They are imprisoning hundreds of noted religious scholars, intellectuals, journalists and lawyers in connection with false cases. The freedom of speech is being confiscated due to criticism of the undemocratic, anti-Islamic and anti-nation activities of the government. It is natural that the opposition would try to make reasonable criticism of the government and also to identify their faults. If a government cannot tolerate the constructive criticism of the opposition, they should not be treated as a democratic government. Rather, it is a tyrant and oppressor government.
He further said, during the current regime, ill deeds like abduction, murder, and torture against women and kids have increased alarmingly. Numerous people became the victims of extra-judicial killing. People are being murdered or abducted unreasonably. Many women and kids became the victims of rapes. Lives and properties of the people are not secured. There is no freedom of speech. Journalists’ voices have been subdued in the name of the cyber security act. They are being pushed to prison even with lame excuses. People are being economically tortured through bribery, corruption, extortion, and tender terrorism. A nation cannot function in such a way.
On the eve of the UN-declared International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, I am extending sympathy and empathy to those individuals, organizations, and communities who became victims of torture. For decades, people have been persecuted under the state’s patronization. Even in the present civilized era, people are being harassed and tortured by continuing war and violence across the globe. Such persecution and torture against humanity must be stopped.
On the occasion of the UN-declared International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, I am calling upon United Nations, OIC, international human rights bodies and peace-loving institutions and organizations to come forward for defending the interest of the repressed communities. Besides, I am urging the government of Bangladesh to release all political leaders, journalists, religious scholars, and preachers immediately.
