Chief adviser鈥檚 press secretary Mohammad Shafiqul Alam said on Friday that the interim government was committed to investigating all killings that took place during the tenure of the ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, with a particular focus on incidents from July and August.
Speaking as the chief guest at a debate titled 鈥楢wami League Government Committed the Hefazat Carnage at Shapla Chattar in Fear of Losing Power,鈥� Shafiq urged the people to demand justice but cautioned that ensuring fair trials in accordance with international standards would take time.
鈥榃e will prioritise investigations and trials of crimes committed in July and August, followed by cases of killings and enforced disappearances, and later, other incidents,鈥� he said.
Shafiqul added that the events of 2013 were marked by systematic killings and enforced disappearances of opposition voices, intended to instill fear and silence dissent ahead of the unilateral 2014 national election.
He said that, alongside government efforts, Hefazat-e-Islam was also conducting its own internal probe into the killings of its leaders and activists.
He asserted that the masterminds behind the Hefazat killings on the night following May 5, 2013 were known and stressed the need for a judicial inquiry.
鈥楾he people have the right to know how many people were killed and who was responsible for the violence,鈥� he said.
In response to concerns over delays in justice, he dismissed demands for trials to be completed within three months or during the interim government鈥檚 tenure.
鈥楩air justice takes years. Some processes cannot be rushed,鈥� he said.
Drawing a comparison, Shafiqul pointed out that similar human rights violations in Argentina, Chile, and Peru led to the disappearance of 20,000鈥�30,000 people, and those nations took years to ensure justice.
He urged patience in Bangladesh鈥檚 pursuit of accountability.
Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury, who chaired the debate, outlined five key demands -- bringing those responsible for the Hefazat crackdown to book, providing financial assistance to the families of victims and injured individuals, forming a commission to identify those who ordered the crackdown, publicly naming those involved and ensuring their prosecution, and publishing a list of those killed and injured and ensuring proper compensation.
The debate for Democracy organised the weekly debate session at the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation in Dhaka.
