Following the resignation of Sheikh Hasina from the post of Prime Minister and her departure from the country in the face of the student movement, the UK-based Global Bangladeshi Alliance for Human Rights (GBAHR) organized a press conference with 5-point demands in the post-revolution situation.
The press conference was held at the GBAHR office in East London on Wednesday (August 14). Eminent journalist Shafiq Rehman and Mrs. Taleya Rehman were present as guest speakers. Convener of GBAHR and weekly Surma editor Shamsul Alam Liton read the written statement at the press conference. He submitted 5 point demands to the Yunus government.
The five demands are –
1. State recognition of all the martyrs of the Second Liberation War and treatment and rehabilitation of the injured.
2. The immediate trial of those involved in genocide, disappearances and extra-judicial killings in the recent student uprising in the international anti-humanity court.
3. The release of all the royal prisoners detained during the last 15 years of dictatorship and the return of hundreds of exiled writers, journalists and political activists to the state initiative and providing compensation.
4. Ensuring the NID and voting rights of one and a half crore expatriates within the next 1 year and ensuring their voting in the next national elections.
5. According to all international declarations of human rights, conventions and the declaration of the liberation war in Bangladesh, to enact and implement the necessary laws to ensure equality, human dignity and democratic values at all levels of society.
Furthermore, the Interim Government was urged to take diplomatic initiative to arrest Sheikh Hasina for genocide and bring her back from India to Bangladesh. Speakers cited instances of many prisoner exchanges, including Anup Chetia, under the prisoner extradition treaty with India. The press conference said that the Indian government should help Bangladesh in the recent student massacre trial and that this initiative is also very important for the peace and security of South Asia.
Barrister Zakir Hasan Shishir (Senior Fellow, GBAHR), Fellow Sheikh Akhlakh Ahmed, Rakesh Rahman, Hasnat Arian Khan and others were also present in the press conference.
