‘Missing’ but not missing
Bangladesh’s elite security force’s list of 262 missing militant suspects is striking the wrong terror – many reportedly returned home long ago.
A COOK at a fishing trawler in Chittagong, Jane Alam, went to the house of his first wife in Mymensingh on Feb 21 this year without telling his second wife. Having failed to reach him on the phone, the second wife, Nurjahan, filed a report that he was missing.
Some 19 days later, Alam returned to Nurjahan. But the 33-year-old is still on the Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) list of missing people, as the family did not inform the police about his return and the police did not contact the family to update their record.
The special crime-busting force prepared the much-talked-about list of 262 missing men after the July 1 Dhaka cafe siege and the Sholakia attack in Kishoreganj on Hari Raya.
Most of the attackers had gone missing for months. But Rab itself had noted that three from its list had returned home, while family members of some 30 others have said their relatives either came home or contacted them. The Daily Star spoke with 10 such returnees, most of them victims of doping gangs and muggers.
They alleged that law enforcers and intelligence agencies were harassing them and their families just because their names came up on the list. Some said they were even being humiliated by their families, colleagues and friends.
Lawyers and former police officials blame both the families and law enforcers for the mix-up – families should have reported the return of their loved ones and police should have updated their records.
Kazi Mohibul Islam, a lawyer in Dhaka, fell victim to a doping gang on his way to Feni on March 25. He returned to his family after 24 hours, by which time his family had filed a police report.
The family later verbally told the police about his return, but police did not update their record.
“Now, my family and I are being harassed in various ways by law enforcement, intelligence agencies and even journalists because the list features my name,” he said.
“The situation has turned so bad that my father is now asking me whether I really practise law in Dhaka.”
At least six others share his frustration. One police official, who investigated two cases of missing persons, said the families informed them in writing after their relatives returned home but their names still ended up on the Rab list.
Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of Rab’s legal and media wing, said they prepared the list based on information from police stations across the country. “If the returnees report to the respective police stations, we will update the list.”
As he had told the BBC earlier, there may be various reasons why these people had gone missing, “so it is not possible to say that they all are directly involved in militancy. We are not telling so either.”
Equally important is for the agencies to delve deeper into how so many of the so-called militants are motivated to join extremist groups.
We need to know the means and methodology of recruitment followed by outfits like the Islamic State group, which is allegedly drawing not only young and impressionable people but also established professionals to their fold.
This requires the involvement of the society at large, cutting across party lines, where raising social awareness should be the key component. It requires parental involvement in the day-to-day lives of their children – how they spend their time in schools, finding out who their friends and associates are, what they read and watch.
And there is greater need for government agencies to work handin-hand with the community and religious leaders to counter the distorted messages being disseminated in the name of religion.