Controversy over abduction case closure
TODAY is the 28th anniversary of the abduction of political activist Kalpana Chakma.
Kalpana was abducted at gunpoint from her remote home in New Lallyaghona village in the Chittagong Hill Tracts in the early hours of the day of Bangladesh鈥檚 national elections in 1996.
On the day of the abduction, Kalpana鈥檚 elder brother, Kalindi Kumar Chakma, filed the case (No 12/6/96 #2) with the local police station.
At the time of her abduction, Kalpana, a BA student at Baghaichari Kachalong College, was in her early twenties. She was the organising secretary of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Hill Women鈥檚 Federation. She has not been heard from since the abduction.
Recently, on April 23, 2024, the chief judicial magistrate court of Rangamati ruled that Kalpana Chakma鈥檚 abduction case should be closed, thus absolving the three alleged perpetrators.
This ruling has resulted in protests at local, national, and international levels.
The lawyers for the plaintiff immediately declared that the case would be taken to a higher court.
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Events of Kalpana鈥檚 abduction
KALPANA鈥橲 abduction from her home at gunpoint is not a mystery. Two of Kalpana鈥檚 brothers, Kalindi and Lal Bihari (Khudiram), were abducted with her but managed to escape.
They identified three of their abductors: Lieutenant Ferdous Kaiser Khan (17 East Bengal Regiment), then commander of Kojoichari army camp situated near Kalpana鈥檚 home; Nurul Haque, a member of the Village Defence Party; and Saleh Ahmed, also a member of the VDP.听
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A history of flawed reports
ONE month after Kalpana鈥檚 June 12 abduction, an internal military investigation, dated July 18, 1996 (唳膏唳唳班 唳ㄠ 唰З唰З/唰�/唳�/ 唳嗋-唳呧Κ唳�/唳忇Ξ唳�-唰�), signed by Brigadier General Fazle Elahi Akbar (on behalf of the Chief of General Staff), Army Headquarters, concluded that Lt Ferdous was not involved.
In August 1996, the Home Ministry constituted a 3-member Judicial Enquiry Commission, which included retired Supreme Court Judge Abdul Jalil as the convenor, Shakhawat Hossain, deputy commissioner of Chittagong, and professor Anupam Sen of Chittagong University as members. The commission submitted its report on February 27, 1997, confirming that she was abducted but 鈥榝ailing鈥� to identify the perpetrators.
It took 15 years before excerpts from the Commission Report found their way into three national newspapers in March 2011.听
In 2016, a final police report on Kalpana鈥檚 abduction, which also relied on the 1996 military report and the Judicial Enquiry Commission Report, concluded that there was insufficient evidence or witnesses to continue the case.
Tellingly, the police report revealed that the earlier 1996 Judicial Enquiry Commission report found that Kalpana had been abducted 鈥榳illingly or unwillingly鈥� and that it was not possible to find out more due to a lack of witnesses and evidence.
Was the Judicial Enquiry Commission Report suggesting Kalpana and her brothers were willingly abducted at gunpoint?
And as for witnesses, what about the two people abducted with her?
The 2016 Police Report also noted that the primary reason it did not continue the investigation was because the 1996 military report had already cleared Lt Ferdous.
Is it any wonder that there is now so much anger over the chief judicial magistrate鈥檚 court鈥檚 2024 decision to close the case and absolve the perpetrators?
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Kalpana鈥檚 mother died grieving
ON AUGUST 18, 1996, Kalpana鈥檚 mother, Badani Chakma, made the long journey from her village to appear at the National Press Club in Dhaka to appeal to prime minister Sheikh Hasina to rescue her abducted daughter.
Badani believed that, as a mother, the prime minister would understand the pain of another mother.听
In the last years of her life, Badani lost her sight. Villagers believe that this was from constant weeping over the loss of her youngest child.
Kalpana鈥檚 grief-stricken mother died on October 18, 1999, but her ardent appeal to the prime minister remains.
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Kabita Chakma is an architect, researcher and writer.