After the recent mass protests in Bangladesh and the subsequent fall of the Awami League government, a particular word has started to circulate from social media to the media. The word ‘mirror’. The way the word is being presented on social media, it seems to hold unadulterated hatred and fear behind it. What is this ‘mirror’?
‘Ainaghar’ was actually a secret prison run by the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) during the Awami era. It was born during the reign of Sheikh Hasina. Basically, the suspects of anti-government plot were detained there. Note that DGFI is the intelligence agency of the Ministry of Defense of the country.
On August 6, barrister Ahmed bin Kasem Arman and former army officer Brigadier General Abdullahil Aman Azmi appeared in public after eight years of ‘disappearance’. It has been alleged that the Sheikh Hasina government keeps them in ‘mirror’.
Both Armaan and Azmi said that they spent eight years in detention there in abhorrent conditions.
Sheikh Hasina resigned from the post of Prime Minister on August 5 and left the country. Since then the practice of ‘Mirror’ started. It is known that many people have suddenly lost their purpose in the Hasina regime. Each of them opposed the Awami government and publicly criticized Hasina. Just like the way the opposition party was detained in concentration camps in Germany during the Nazi era, the ‘Mirror House’ operated. This is what the prisoners who came out of there said.
There were 23 such prisons in Dhaka city alone. Within it is a ‘mirror’. According to a survey by several human rights organizations, around 600 people mysteriously disappeared in 2009. All of them were allegedly taken away by force. And it was also alleged that the army was behind all these abductions.
Various human rights organizations claim that not only critics of the then government, but also those identified as ‘extremists’ or ‘terrorists’, many people were detained in the ‘mirror’ or the national secret prisons. Some of whom were later released. Several people were killed. Very few are brought to court for trial. Several people were killed. Very few are brought to court for trial.
On August 14, 2022, a Swedish media outlet ‘Netra News’ (the organization mainly provides Bangladesh-related news) published an investigative report. It was there that it was first claimed that people who had suddenly disappeared were being detained and tortured in a secret prison called ‘Ainaghar’. ‘Netra News’ also reported the probable location of that prison. They cite the statements of Hasinur Rahman and Sheikh Mohammad Selim as the basis for this claim. They claimed that they were detained in the ‘Mirror House’.
On August 8, 2018, Hasinur, a former Bangladesh Army officer and member of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), was picked up by 14-15 people from his residence in Mirpur. He was left in front of his house in 2022. He was sick at that time. His speech was slurred and he was suffering from high blood pressure, according to family sources.
Hasinur said that he was detained and tortured in the ‘mirror’ for 16 months. Several members of Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen in Chittagong were arrested by Hasinur in 2005-06. It is known that they were involved in sabotage activities. Despite this, Hasinur was deposed at that time on charges of ‘treason’.
‘Netra News’ published several pictures of a prison at that time and claimed that they were of ‘Ayanaghar’. They also claim that those pictures were taken by the military officers working there. It is claimed that Bangladesh’s Counter-Terrorism Intelligence Bureau and DGFI are in charge of the ‘mirror’. ‘Netra News’ also reported that this secret prison has been built in a building in the Dhaka Cantonment area.
This report of ‘Netra News’ was published on the eve of the visit of the head of the United Nations Human Rights Division, Michel Bachelet, to Bangladesh. Michel arrived in Dhaka and inquired about these sudden disappearances and sealed the news in a press conference organized in Dhaka before his return. At the same time, he demanded an impartial investigation into extrajudicial killings and missing persons.
Meenakshi Gangopadhyay, the spokesperson of a non-governmental organization working on human rights at an international level called ‘Human Rights Watch’, claims that the Bangladesh government is responsible for the disappearance of these people. Also, ‘Mayer Dak’, a forum comprising families of missing persons organized a march in support of Michelle’s claim. Convener of the stage, Sanjida Islam, accused the DGFI of running a secret prison. Sanjeeda’s complaint pointed to the ‘mirror’ itself.
A former military officer named Sheikh Mohammad Salim was allegedly called and detained in the ‘mirror’. He claimed that he was detained in that prison for many years. “Netra News” questioned Salim and said that there were no windows in the prison cells. A little light could be obtained from a small bulb high up. Somewhere a huge adjustable fan ran all day long, the noise of which did not reach the prison cell. He occasionally felt vibrations, which he assumed were from an airport or airstrip somewhere nearby.
Salim told ‘Netra News’ that exactly how many people were imprisoned there was beyond his estimation. He was often beaten and subjected to other forms of physical abuse. One day he was violently beaten and thrown into another room.
It was later learned that it was not the DGFI’s intention to pick up Salim. They picked him up by mistake. He was later released. Then Salim went to Malaysia.
On August 7, United Peoples Democratic Front leader Michael Chakma was reportedly released from the ‘Mirror’. Michael has been missing since April 2019. His lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua filed a habeas corpus petition in the court to trace him. He told the press that the news of Michael’s return home is true.
A military officer told ‘Netra News’ that there were about 30 rooms in the ‘Ayanaghar’. Salim said in an interview to ‘Voice of America’ that although all the rooms were soundproof, there were often faint screams coming from those rooms. Sometimes a person was released from the ‘mirror house’ but later they kept quiet about it. Again the fear of being caught chased them.
Talks about ‘mirror’ are coming to light in recent events. The families of many missing persons are hoping that they will return.
On August 7, the DGFI told the media that no one is currently in custody. In 2011, a man named Ataur Rahman from Madaripur went missing. His wife Nadira Sultana told Bangladeshi media that she is leaving for Dhaka to bring her husband back. Many people like Nadira are now waiting for the return of missing relatives. But whether they are all alive, the question remains.
Source: dailynayadiganta