Photo: BSS

KHULNA, Aug 30, 2025 (BSS) - Sheikh Abdur Rashed is living in endless agony, waiting for the return of his son Mokhlesur Rahman Jony, a homeopathic physician, for the last nine years. His son became a victim of enforced disappearance in Satkhira.

Now elderly and frail, Rashed says his tears have dried up, yet he continues to run from court to court in search of justice. 

On Saturday morning, he joined a human chain and rally, organized to mark the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. There, he demanded government intervention to bring his son back and provide compensation. 

Odhikar, a human rights organization, arranged the programme at Picture Palace intersection in the city, following a rally that began from the Khulna Press Club. 

With a trembling voice, Rashed recalled that on August 4, 2016, police led by Sub-Inspector Himel of Satkhira Sadar Police Station picked up his son. 

"Almost nine years have passed, yet the police could not tell us his whereabouts. Our family has been destroyed. His mother has fallen sick. We want strict punishment for the then Officer-in-Charge Emdad Hossain, SI Himel, and others involved," he said, urging government action to return his son.

Journalist Muhammad Nuruzzaman, Odhikar's Khulna focal person, presided over the event, while rights activist and journalist K.M. Ziaus Sadat read out a statement.

Odhikar presented six demands to the government. These included: disclosure of the fate of those still missing; legal measures to allow families of the disappeared to manage or sell their property and bank accounts; diplomatic efforts with India to trace victims reportedly taken there; withdrawal of false cases filed against victims who returned; release of those wrongfully jailed; bringing perpetrators to justice at the International Criminal Court; and enacting a law to prevent enforced disappearances. 

Speakers at the programme included lawyers, senior journalists, and members of Khulna's civil society, who echoed the call for justice and government accountability.

Among others, member secretary of the Khulna Lawyers Association, advocate Nurul Hasan Ruba; member secretary of Khulna Nagorik Samaj, advocate Babul Howlader; and senior journalists Kazi Motahar Rahman Babu, Ehteshamul Haque Shaon, Rashedul Islam, and H M Alauddin addressed the event.