Former MP Demands Justice After Party Activists Killed in Turag

DHAKA – Mahmud Hasan Ripon, a former Member of Parliament and former central president of the Bangladesh Chhatra League, has strongly condemned the alleged targeted killings of Awami League and Chhatra League activists in the Turag area.

In a press statement issued to the media on Saturday, Ripon claimed that the partially decomposed bodies of three activists belonging to the Awami League and its banned student wing, the Chhatra League, were recently retrieved from the Turag River. According to his statement, at least four other party members remain missing following a violent confrontation last week.

Providing details of the incident, the former lawmaker alleged that a peaceful procession organised by the Turag Thana Awami League and Chhatra League on 22 June was brutally attacked by a group of miscreants. He asserted that several activists were subjected to severe physical torture before being murdered, after which their bodies were dumped into the river to destroy evidence. While three bodies have been recovered, the fate of the remaining four missing individuals remains unknown, causing immense distress to their families.

Ripon pointed out that these targeted attacks coincide with the founding anniversary of the Awami League. He claimed that law enforcement agencies have been heavily deployed to suppress anniversary programmes across the country. He also alleged that activists from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami have been actively involved in orchestrating these attacks against his party colleagues.

The political landscape remains highly volatile following recent legislative bans on these organisations, which have restricted their public activities. Ripon argued that opposition members are being systematically targeted because of their political ideology. His allegations extended beyond street violence, as he claimed that planned killings of party activists are also occurring within correctional facilities.

Concluding his statement, the former MP emphasised that the Awami League possesses a historic tradition of political struggle and resilience. He maintained that the party cannot be suppressed through enforced disappearances, torture, or extrajudicial killings, and that its grassroots workers will remain steadfast in their political convictions despite the pressure. Ripon urged the authorities to form an immediate, impartial investigation to identify those responsible for the Turag River killings and demanded the highest legal punishment for the perpetrators.