Staff Correspondent

Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder on Monday said the relevant commission is looking into who were specifically involved in torturing people, keeping them confined to ‘Aynaghars’ or secret prisons.

“There are many involved in torturing people. The Commission will look into who are specifically involved,” he told reporters, adding that no specific force is identified or no specific individual is made responsible.

The interim government made it clear that whoever is involved will be brought to justice, Azad said while responding to a question at a media briefing at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital.

“The government has this commitment,” he added.

Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said a panel (commission) is working to know how many Aynaghars were there in the country and once the commission submits its report, the overall scenario will come to light. “You will get a complete picture once the commission submits its report.”

Chief Adviser’s Deputy Press Secretary Apurba Jahangir was also present at the media briefing.

In August last week, the government formed a five-member inquiry commission to identify and find the people who were forcibly disappeared by various intelligence and law enforcement agencies between January 1, 2010 and August 5, 2024.

While visiting Gonobhaban, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus said a replica of the Aynaghar (Mirror House) where “Hasina's notorious security agencies secretly detained” hundreds of dissidents and opposition activists should also be built at the Museum in Gonobhaban.

The Aaynaghar should remind visitors of the tortures suffered by the secret prisoners, he said.

The Chief Adviser asked advisers to gear up the museum construction for the July-August mass uprising at the Gonobhaban.

The Chief Adviser gave the instructions when he visited the Dhaka palace where ousted dictator Sheikh Hasina lived during the past 15 years, which became a “symbol of repression and her brutal rule”.

Azad said the Aynaghar has become a symbol of repression. Once the replica of Aynaghar is set up at Gonobhaban, the next generations will be able to know how much torture was carried out on the people keeping them confined in those secrete cells, he added.

Azad said the interim government has not taken any decision to impose ban on any political party.

The interim government, earlier, officially banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League party, declaring it a ‘terrorist organisation’.

On extradition of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Azad said there is no update on this issue.

Earlier in September, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus said Hasina should be extradited and brought to justice if she committed crimes.

"Why shouldn't be? If she committed crimes, she should be extradited and brought to justice… she should be facing justice too," he said while responding to a question at ‘The New York Times Climate Forward Event’.