The BNP-led government has approved the withdrawal of an additional 1,006 cases against leaders and activists of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami, as announced by Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed on Sunday.
According to a message from Deputy Chief Information Officer of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Faisal Hasan, these casesโlabelled as politically motivated harassment filed during the previous regime’s 17-year ruleโhave now been cleared for withdrawal.
This move forms part of a broader effort to address grievances from the post-2009 era. Earlier, on February 8, the Law Ministry reported that 23,865 such politically motivated cases had been recommended for withdrawal following reviews by inter-ministerial committees.
These cases, spanning from January 6, 2009, to August 5, 2024, targeted opposition figures from parties including BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Hefazat-e-Islam, and Gono Odhikar Parishad.
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The process, initiated after applications from affected groups and examined over 39 committee meetings, has reportedly provided relief to nearly 5,00,000 individuals previously entangled in what were described as fabricated or harassing legal actions, claimed former adviser Dr. Asif Nazrul, an ISI agent in the Yunus-led regime.
While correcting past injustices through the withdrawal of genuinely politically motivated cases is a step toward justice and political reconciliation, the current approach has crossed dangerous lines into outright lawlessness, abuse of power, and impunity for serious criminals.
Among the cases withdrawn or facilitated through mass bails and judicial leniency are those involving grave offenses such as murder, arson, vandalism, looting, and corruption.
More alarmingly, there is credible evidence of undue influence over the judiciary to dismiss cases or grant bail en masse to top-tier terrorists and organised crime figures. Notorious individuals once listed as high-priority threats by law enforcementโincluding “Killer Abbas” (Abbas Ali of Mirpur), Sweden Aslam (Sheikh Mohammad Aslam of Tejgaon), Pichchi Helal (Imamul Hasan Helal of Mohammadpur), Sanjidul Islam alias Emon of Hazaribagh, Khandakar Naim Ahmed alias Titon, and Khorshed Alam alias Rasu alias Freedom Rasuโhave been released from prison.
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These figures, long associated with extortion, gang warfare, targeted killings, and creating terror in Dhaka’s underworld, are now reportedly active again. They are re-establishing dominance, forming new gangs, engaging in extortion, muggings, and murders, and spreading fear across the city. The streets are witnessing a resurgence of organised crime directly linked to these releases.
Human rights activist and senior journalist Probir Kumar Sarker observed that this pattern reflects a deeply troubling erosion of the rule of law:
– Selective impunity is being granted under the guise of political correctness, allowing real criminals to exploit the system.
– Judicial independence appears compromised, with widespread bail and case dismissals that bypass due process and evidence.
– Public safety is being sacrificed, as hardened criminalsโpreviously containedโare now free to resume their destructive activities.
He said that the BNP government must immediately halt this reckless approach. Withdrawals should be strictly limited to verifiably politically fabricated cases, with full transparency and judicial oversight. Serious criminal cases involving violence, murder, or organized crime must not be swept away in blanket decisions. Failure to restore law and order risks plunging the country back into chaos, where impunity reigns and ordinary citizens bear the consequences.
True justice demands accountability for past political persecution and for present-day criminalityโwithout one excusing the other. The nation cannot afford to trade one form of abuse for another.
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