Entrenched culture of impunity continues to sustain extrajudicial killings: Mohiuddin Ahmad

Prominent writer and researcher Mohiuddin Ahmad on Monday said an entrenched culture of impunity continues to sustain extrajudicial killings, adding that the Rakkhi Bahini should have faced trial after 1975 but was instead exploited by subsequent political actors for political rhetoric without any effort to secure justice.

Speaking at a seminar organised by the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum titled “Democratic Journey Seminar Series”, which focused on “Rakkhi Bahini and Extrajudicial Killings”, he said the Awami League had turned the Rakkhi Bahini into a partisan force to serve the regime's political interests immediately after the Liberation War.

He recalled that while the force was deployed to recover land occupied from Hindu communities by Amir Hossain Amu, it was simultaneously turned into the ruling party's private enforcement wing to persecute opposition figures.

Leaders and activists of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JASAD) were among the worst victims of the force's widespread atrocities during that era, he added.

Highlighting how historical allegations were used as political rhetoric, he drew a parallel with Sheikh Hasina's repeated allegations that Ziaur Rahman had conspired in Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's assassination, despite her never forming an inquiry commission during her 16 years in power.

At the event, human rights activist and former member of the Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances Nur Khan Liton said the Rakkhi Bahini subjected people to brutal torture regardless of gender.

He noted that its operations were particularly heavy in areas where opposition groups, particularly JASAD, had strong organisational footholds.

Liton further highlighted that the Rakkhi Bahini's uniform closely resembled that of the Indian Army at the time, generating widespread fear among citizens that they might be targeted in joint operations with Indian forces.

He added that between 1972 and 1975, numerous unidentified bodies were frequently found dumped along the road connecting Rokeya Hall and Shamsunnahar Hall at Dhaka University. He suggested that the Rakkhi Bahini had most likely dumped them there to instil widespread panic.

Panellist, writer and researcher Sohul Ahmed urged the formation of an independent Truth Commission to uncover the full truth behind extrajudicial killings carried out across the country over the past five decades.

He observed that the Rakkhi Bahini's exact same scripted narrative – recovering arms and opening fire in self-defence – continues to be fed to the public.

Presiding over the seminar, Ehasan Mahamud, director general of the July Mass Uprising Memorial Museum, remarked that the two most dreaded terms among the masses after independence were the “Rakkhi Bahini” and “BAKSAL”.

He stressed that the July Mass Uprising had offered a vision of a transformed Bangladesh, but building a sustainable democratic future required an honest reckoning with the past.

He said that following independence, one-man rule was instituted, all independent newspapers were shut down, and state-sponsored extrajudicial violence began with the formation of the Rakkhi Bahini.

University teachers, researchers, legal experts, students and civil society representatives attended the event. Further seminars under the series will be organised in phases.