Shahriar Kabir’s arrest, amid controversial charges linked to his long-standing fight for secularism reflects Bangladesh fundamentalists working behind the interim government

It is important to examine in some detail Shahriar Kabir’s arrest in Dhaka on September 17, 2024, and the subsequent  related  developments, to understand the forces driving Bangladesh’s interim government and direction in which it is taking the country. To start with, one must briefly look at who Kabir is. Author, journalist, film-maker and an internationally respected champion of human rights, secularism and democracy, he has also been at the forefront of the struggle to bring to justice those who had collaborated with the Pakistanis during Bangladesh’s liberation war of 1971 and were their accomplices in the perpetration of crimes against humanity including mass murder and rape. He played an important role in the formation of the Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee (Committee for the Uprootment of the Killers and Collaborators of Seventy-One) under the leadership of Jahanara Imam whose husband and one of whose sons were savagely killed by the Pakistanis in 1971. Kabir, who subsequently became the organisation’s president, was, at the time of his arrest, president of its advisory committee.

Second, one needs to look at the circumstances of his arrest, the charges against him and his accusers and their ties with the interim government. According to a report in The Dhaka Tribune, datelined September 17, 2024 and carried under the heading “Shahriar Kabir arrested in Dhaka,” Mufti Harun Izhar Chowdhury, joint secretary of the Hefazat-e-Islam (Hefazat), filed, on August 20, 2024, a complaint with the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) in Dhaka, against Sheikh Hasina and 23 others—one of them being Kabir--accusing them of crimes against humanity and mass murder in connection with a rally by Hefazat on May 5, 2013.

Further, according to a report in The Daily Star, datelined September 18, 2024, and carried under the heading “Shahriar Kabir placed on 7-day remand”, Kabir, along with Mozammel Babu, was produced before the court with a 10-day remand plea by the police, in a case concerning the death of  a domestic help, Liza Akter, during the quota reform protests. The report cited a sub-inspector of police present in the court as saying that Dhaka’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, Md Sanaullah, passed the orders remanding him custody for seven days.

A report datelined September 17, 2024, and published in Prothom Alo English under the heading, “Shahriar Kabir, Nurul Islam arrested,” cited sources as saying that Kabir was an accused in several murder cases filed with Jatrabari and other police stations in Dhaka. According to information available with this writer, seven murder cases have so far been levelled against him besides the one  the ICT. The levelling of murder charges against a person of Kabir’s stature is not only laughable but suggests, as in  a number of other cases, planned and coordinated behind-the-scenes effort.

As seen, the case before the ICT has been filed by Mufti Harun Izhar Chowdhury, joint secretary of the Hefazat-e-Islam (Hefazat) accusing Sheikh Hasina and 23 others, including Kabir, of crimes against humanity and mass murder in connection with a rally by Hefazat on May 5, 2013.

According to a report in The Dhaka Tribune (August 19, 2024) under the heading “Hefazat rally in Shapla Chattar: Odhikar publishes list of killed people,” Odhikar, a human rights organisation, published on Monday (August 19) a list of people allegedly killed during the Awami League-led government’s  crackdown on the Hefazat’s rally on May 5-6, 2013, at Shapla Chattar in Dhaka. The list, originally published in 2013, had led to action against the organisation by the Awami League government.

Citing persecution by the latter government, Odhikar, according to the report, urged the interim government to immediately form an independent inquiry commission headed by a Supreme Court judge and conduct an impartial investigation into the extrajudicial killings committed on May 5 and 6 of 2013 and bring the perpetrators to justice.

The Dhaka Tribune report did not mention whether Odhikar had named the perpetrators. As seen above, Hefazat’s complaint was filed on August 20, 2024, the day after Odhikar’s post. Three questions arise here. What was the number of people killed? Was the rally peaceful?

What was the context in which it was held and what were the Hefazat’s demands? Against the Odhikar’s figures, a BBC report, datelined May 6, 2024, stated that at least 27 persons had been killed and dozens hurt in the clashes. It also said that at least two of the dead were policemen. Also, the fact that the police, according to the report, “used stun grenades and rubber bullets” to disperse the protestors indicates an effort to keep the casualties to minimum.

The rally was extremely violent. The report cites one witness as saying that the demonstrators “were very aggressive, some people were throwing stones and the situation quickly become violent... the police had no option but to respond”. The witness further told the BBC, “Rioters vandalised markets and set fire to bookshops where the Holy Koran is sold. Thousands of Koran and religious books burned. They also attacked the ruling party’s political office and national mosque.”

The Hefazat’s 13-point programme includes the enactment of an anti-blasphemy law with provision for death penalty, exemplary punishment to all bloggers and others who “insult Islam,” cancellation of Bangladesh’s policy for women’s development, bans on the erection of sculptures in public places, the mixing  of men and women in public, candlelight vigils,  and “shameless  behaviour and dresses,” besides declaring Ahmadiyas as “non-Muslims.” Nadia Sarmin, covering its rally for ETV, was mercilessly beaten for daring to be a woman “in a men only” event. Grievously injured, she was rescued by other journalists.

It is not surprising if all this reminds one of the Taliban’s agenda, A DW report (May 9,  2013) by Graham Lucas under the heading “Bangladesh Chaos,” cited Maulana Habibur Rahman, one of the Hefajat leaders, as boasting of his role in the 1980s Afghan war and his support to the former al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden.

The interim government has close and warm relations with the Hefazat. It has lifted the ban on the organisation. The advisor for religious affairs, AFM Khalid Hossain, is the latter’s Nayeb-e-Amir. Chief Advisor Mohammad Yunus had a long and cordial meeting on August 31, 2024, with Mamunul Haque, the organisations head. The Hefazat is holding rallies and processions all over the country.

It is in this context that one has to see Shahriar Kabir’s arrest and continued detention, in the teeth of demands for his release by international human rights activists and organisations.

The idea is to send a clear message to people in Bangladesh: do not champion secular democracy and humanism and oppose Islamic fundamentalism. If we can send Shahriar Kabir to jail, we can also send you there.

(The author is Consulting Editor, The Pioneer; views expressed are personal)