They treated me more violently than Pakistani hyenas, says Bangladeshi freedom fighter after assault by Jamaat workers

Dhaka, Dec 23 (IANS) In yet another shocking incident that exposes the chaotic situation currently prevailing in Bangladesh under interim government led by Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, one of the country’s renowned freedom fighters Abdul Hai Kanu was harassed and humiliated by members of the radical Jamaat-e-Islami party, which was banned under the antiterrorism law till the fall of Sheikh Hasina government in August, earlier this year.

A nearly two-minute video, that has now gone viral on social media, shows Jamaat workers putting a garland of shoes on Kanu and asking the old man to leave his house in Ludiara village in Batisa Union of Chauddagram Upazila of Comilla District in Chittagong.

Several reports revealed that Kanu had gone to a local market on Sunday morning where a few men caught him and took him in front of Kuliara High School where he was physically and mentally harassed.

Kanu, who had returned to his village home after the fall of Awami League government, reportedly told local media that a person also put a knife to his throat.

“I thought that this time I would be able to live in the village comfortably. But they treated me more violently than the Pakistani hyenas,” Bangladeshi online news portal Bangla News 24 quoted the freedom fighter as saying.

Bir Protik or ‘symbol of bravery’, is the fourth highest gallantry award in Bangladesh and Kanu is among the 426 people who have received the prestigious award so far for displaying exemplary courage during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.

“In the video, several young men are seen putting a chain of shoes around Abdul Hai Kanu’s neck. At this time, one person from the side is asking him to leave the house. Another is saying to leave Comilla. At this time, when Abdul Hai Kanu pleaded and refused to leave the house, a middle-aged man said, “How have we been able to stay at home for so many years?” At this time, another person said, “Can you apologise to the people of the entire village?” At this time, he folded his hands and apologised to everyone. At one point, two people took him by the hands and led him forward,” the report added further.

It also mentioned that one of the persons who threatened Kanu was a “hardened terrorist” who had left for Dubai in 2006 and returned after August 5 when Yunus and the interim government took charge of the country.

The current establishment had immediately lifted a ban on the country’s largest Muslim party Jamaat-e-Islami that was imposed under an antiterrorism law.

Reacting strongly, Hasina’s party Awami League said that such “heinous actions” against Bangladesh’s war heroes “cannot be tolerated” and are a “direct assault” on the country’s dignity and history, urging countrymen to stand against it.

“A proud freedom fighter, Abdul Hai Kanu, who served during the Liberation War, has been humiliated by being forced to wear a garland of shoes! Kanu, a revered freedom fighter from the Chauddagram upazila of Comilla, was abducted from his own home this morning by a group of miscreants and current collaborators of the 1971 anti-independence regime. This outrageous act is not just an assault on an individual, but an attack on the very values of our nation’s independence and the honour of our Liberation War heroes,” read a statement issued by the party.

–IANS

int/as