IPU chief draws Ceausescu-Hasina parallels

Visiting Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) Secretary-General Anda Filip has drawn a historical parallel between Romania’s brutal Ceausescu-era rule and state-sponsored repression under the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League regime.

Filip made the remarks during a meeting with MPs of the 13th Parliament who were politically persecuted under the AL regime at the Cabinet Room of Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on Tuesday. Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed presided over the meeting, with Deputy Speaker Barrister Kaisar Kamal and Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni also present.

Describing the Hasina era as a “mafia regime”, the speaker said it had dismantled freedom of speech through extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and secret detention facilities, including the “Aynaghar”. 

He said laws such as the Digital Security Act were also misused to suppress dissent. “After the Second World War, the people of Bangladesh had never experienced such a culture of enforced disappearance, repression and state abuse,” he said, calling it a grave chapter in the country’s history.

Several MPs shared accounts of persecution. BNP’s Sanjida Islam Tuli recounted the disappearance of her brother Sajedul Islam Sumon, while a documentary on state abuse was screened.

Jamaat’s Barrister Mir Ahmad Bin Quasem Arman and BNP’s Humam Quader Chowdhury described their ordeals at the Aynaghar. BNP’s Tahsina Rushdir Luna recalled the 2012 disappearance of her husband, BNP leader M Ilias Ali, alleging that the AL government orchestrated it to consolidate power. She also vowed to pursue accountability.

Other MPs, including Barrister Naushad Zamir and Madhabi Marma, shared their experiences of persecution.
Filip condemned the killings and disappearances as inhuman and said she would present a report on the alleged abuses to the IPU Governing Body.