20 missing since beginning of year

According to rights organisation Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), at least 20 people have been allegedly detained by law enforcement agencies in the last two and a half months.

Although law enforcers have denied detaining the 'missing' people, the families or near and dear ones of the missing people claim that the victims were picked up by plainclothes law enforcers. Unfortunately, the horror accounts of 'enforced disappearances,' repeatedly denied by the agencies, have now become all too common, with the incidence of such disappearances rising at an alarming rate over the years. In 2014, at least 88 people were allegedly abducted; 42 of them never returned while bodies of 23 were found later.  In 2013, the numbers were 53 and in 2012, 56.

It is telling that most of the missing 20 people were involved in opposition politics. BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed still remains missing 14 days after he was picked up from his house in Uttara on the night of March 10. Not surprisingly, the law enforcers continue to deny any involvement in the matter, while the government remains for the most part indifferent towards allegations raised against its forces.

However, denial does not absolve the government from its constitutional obligation to protect its citizens. The government must provide satisfactory accounts of what happened to the victims. Allegations against security forces must be probed into, ending the almost complete lack of accountability around these cases.