Information and broadcasting adviser to the interim government, Nahid Islam, on Thursday said that numerous stories of oppression, including the horrifying experiences of Aynaghar remained untold because of the victims鈥� sheer terror.
Nahid Islam said this at a discussion titled 鈥楾he Politics of Satire and Ridicule: Cartoons and Graffiti During the July Uprising鈥�.
The discussion was organised by the Department of Sociology at Professor Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury Auditorium at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Dhaka University.
He also said that despite repeated requests from the government for these individuals to share their experiences, they refused to disclose their trauma.
Addressing the audience, Nahid Islam highlighted that over the past 15 to 16 years, countless instances of oppression and people鈥檚 stories have found expression through art.
During that time, mainstream newspapers had even ceased publishing cartoons, reflecting the suppression of creative freedom.
Highlighting the taboo surrounding Aynaghar and disappearances, he said, 鈥楢round 1,600 petitions were submitted to the Commission on Enforced Disappearances, and the number may rise to 5,000.鈥�
Professor ASM Amanullah, vice-chancellor of National University, spoke at the event, which was chaired by sociology department chair professor Fatema Rezina Iqbal.
At the discussion, Samina Luthfa, an associate professor at Dhaka University, presented the keynote paper.
She analysed the theoretical framework of wall writings, language, and social media鈥檚 role in amplifying movements.
Referring to the 2018 quota reform movement, she explained how the mainstream media suppressed the word 鈥榬azakar鈥� (traitor) to undermine the movement, a tactic that failed during the 2024 mass uprising.
Gitiara Nasreen, a faculty member of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism at Dhaka University, and Md Jahangir Alam, vice-chancellor of Jatiya Kabi Kazi Nazrul Islam University and faculty members from the Department of Sociology also shared their thoughts at the discussion.