Slow progress of the trial of the Chittagong massacre case has frustrated family members of the victims killed on January 24, 1988 during the regime of military ruler HM Ershad.
Today is the 26th anniversary of the bloodbath in which at least 30 people were killed and 300 others injured in police firing.
Police opened fire on agitating people as they proceeded in a procession to attend a rally on Laldighi Maidan.
An eye-witness advocate Ibrahim Hossain Babul, joint secretary of the city unit of the Awami League, said Shiekh Hasina was scheduled to attend the rally after a meeting with lawyers in court building in the port city.
Advocate Shahidul Huda lodged a case with the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate under section 302/34 under Criminal Procedure Code in 1993 after five years of the incident.
Assistant Superintendent of Police Hafiz Uddin of Criminal Investigation Department in Chittagong zone submitted the charge sheet before the court on December 12, 1997 based on the investigation report given by another CID ASP Kader Khan, first investigation officer of the case.
The court framed charges on May 9, 2000 against then commissioner Mirza Raqibul Huda of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, constables Pradip Barua, Momtaz Uddin, Mostafizur Rahman, Shah Abdullah, Gobinda Chandra Mondol, Bashiruddin and Abdus Salam.
The case is under trial at the Metropolitan Sessions’ Judge Court. A total of 35 prosecution witnesses out of 164 were testified before the court, said Kamal Uddin, public prosecutor of Chittagong Metropolitan.
Accused constable Gobinda Chandra Mondol has been on the run while two other constables Bashiruddin and Abdus Salam died.
Prosecution witnesses and the doctor who carried out autopsies have long been missing while CID ASP Kader died, said the public prosecutor.
The PP, however, is hopeful about completion of the trial in a short time.
But the hope of the PP cannot assure the family members of the victims.
Kalpita Bishwash, daughter of Swapan Kumar Bishwash who was killed in police firing on that fateful day, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The memorial is uncared for. The names of the deceased are illegible. I urge the authorities concerned to treat the memorial with due respect.”
“I was an infant when my father was killed. I have no memory of him,” she said.
About the trial, she said the trial process had almost come to a stop.
“I think Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has forgotten the incident as she has formed the government for three times but the trial is yet to be finished,” added Kalpita, an intern at the Chittagong Medical College Hospital.
In memory of those killed in the police attack a memorial with the names of victims carved on it was built in the court building where Sheikh Hasina-led procession came under police attack.
During a visit to the memorial this correspondent found the memorial uncared. People use its rear side as an alternative to a toilet. It is now a meeting place of gamblers, drug addicts and muggers.
