BNP provides list of its members missing from Dhaka

A list of 25 BNP leaders and activists who went missing from Dhaka in recent years has been revealed by the party.

At least 50 people were picked up from within Dhaka City by individuals identifying as law enforcers in the period between November and December of 2013, claimed BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a press conference in the capital on Tuesday.   

The majority of them were leaders and activists of the BNP, he said.

At least 435 have fallen prey to enforced disappearances from 2013 to this year's March, according to reports by human rights groups and victim families, said the BNP's senior joint secretary general.

But Ilias Ali, a BNP leader who went missing in April 2012, was mentioned at the very top.  

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader had asked the BNP to provide a list of missing persons to support its claim that widespread fear of enforced disappearances was being felt in Bangladesh. 

Rizvi had made the comment after the mysterious disappearance and rescue of poet Farhad Mazhar, a known critic of the ruling Awami League.

"The Awami League general secretary says he doesn’t know if people are going missing. As the Awami League leaders continue to spread lies, I'm presenting a very short list of 25 people missing from Dhaka. I won't even bring up the missing members of other political groups.

"The BNP is presenting just this because it would have taken a long time to attach the lists provided by human rights groups," Rizvi added.