Rayerbazar Intellectual graveyard. Every month, at least 150 people are buried in this largest graveyard in Asia in the capital. After leaving their loved ones at their final resting place, many people come to visit and take care of the graves. They request grave diggers and cemetery workers to look after the graves of their loved ones. Along with taking care of the graves, they also pay monthly or yearly fees as per the rules. There is even a signboard with the name and date of death of the person in the grave. So that at least a small identification of the person in the grave can be found. However, there is no such arrangement in the hundreds of graves in a block of the Intellectual graveyard. After the burial, no one looked back at the graves. No one even came to look for them. So, due to negligence and carelessness, the soil has broken into the graves. If you look closely, you can also see the bones and shrouds of the person which has decomposed inside the grave.
The search has been carried out, most of the graves in the unknown block are of unknown martyrs killed in the anti-discrimination movement. The bodies brought in by the vehicle of the non-governmental social organization Anjuman Mofidul Islam were buried by those in charge of the grave. Their duty ends with the burial. There is no time to look back.
Just as the bodies of the workers were not found in the graveyard, the graves of the unknown martyrs, whose names are called by the people who lost their lives in the movement, have not been searched for. Nor have the coordinators of the anti-discrimination movement, who have lost their identities and are buried as unidentified bodies. Rather, they are now important state figures. Even now, they cannot be reached even by trying to contact them on mobile phones. At least four coordinators have not been contacted in the past week to find out their statements regarding the graves of the unknown martyrs. Even the co-coordinators have been reached, but they are not willing to give any statement on the matter.
However, just three months ago, thousands of people took to the streets at the call of these coordinators in the anti-discrimination movement that began demanding quota reform in government jobs. They sacrificed their lives and carried out the movement with the eyes of the law enforcement agencies. And the Sheikh Hasina government committed genocide to suppress this movement. The law enforcement agencies and various Awami League organizations became brutal to maintain Hasina's 15-year power. They became desperate to shoot and kill and hide the bodies. Thousands of youths, teenagers and children had to give their lives to bring down Hasina, who had been in power for 15 years. At least 30,000 students survived the gunshot wounds and somehow managed to survive. However, the number of missing people is still unknown.
There are allegations that during the movement, bodies were disappeared in various ways in the dark of night. There have also been cases of burial under false identities using fake documents. In addition, many of the bodies of the deceased were buried in the hospital morgue for a long time, and many of those whose identities could not be confirmed were buried as unknown in the Rayerbazar Intellectual Graveyard.
It is known that the largest number of mass graves in the capital was found in the Rayerbazar Intellectual Graveyard in Mohammadpur. The country's largest graveyard has more than a hundred bodies of unidentified martyrs buried. In addition, at least 10 unidentified martyrs have been buried in the Jurain graveyard. The authorities in charge are not admitting to the burial of unidentified bodies. However, no information has been found about the burial of any unidentified bodies killed in the anti-discrimination movement in the Mirpur Intellectual graveyard and Azimpur graveyard.
Three months after the fall of the Awami League government, one was shocked to see the mass graves of martyrs buried as unidentified. There is a specific block for burying unidentified bodies in the Rayerbazar Intellectual graveyard.
Having visited the block of unidentified graves several times, it was seen that there are two saris of unidentified graves. Most of the graves are marked with bamboo poles. Most of the graves have been broken. The soil of the graves has been washed away by the rain. There is no way to understand that more than a hundred unidentified martyrs who were killed just three months ago were buried here.
On October 23, it was found that more than 180 graves were marked with bamboo poles. But on November 4, it was found that 115 graves were marked. Among the hundreds of broken graves, a different picture of one grave was seen. It was beautifully decorated with soil. A beautifying tree was planted next to the grave.
It was learned from those involved in the grave that the beautifully decorated grave with soil was the grave of a Palestinian citizen. He was buried on July 29. He was buried in an unknown block after the body was sent through Anjuman Mafidul.
According to the information of the Health Subcommittee of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, a total of 1,581 people were killed in violence during the anti-discrimination student movement. More than 31,000 people were injured in the movement. However, this information is not conclusive.
When asked about the number of missing persons and the number of injured and dead in the anti-discrimination student movement on November 3, Zahid Hossain, the coordinator of the July Smriti Foundation and the movement's coordinator, said, "The information on the injured and dead in the anti-discrimination movement is not yet completely final. We are receiving information every day. Many information are being omitted in the verification process. And we are trying to cooperate with those who are correct." When asked if there is any information about the missing persons apart from the injured and dead in the movement, he said, "We are working on this issue. However, the time has not yet come to publish the number. However, we are trying to collect information about mass graves and missing persons from various media. In this regard, the cooperation of the media is also needed. Meanwhile, the coordinator of the anti-discrimination student movement and currently the information adviser, Nahid Islam, Hasnat Abdullah, Sarjis Alam, and several other coordinators did not receive a response even after sending messages on the mobile phone or social media WhatsApp. Later, when some co-coordinators were contacted, they refused to discuss it with the coordinators.
Regarding the preservation and renovation of the graves of the unknown martyrs killed in the anti-discrimination movement, Abdul Qadir, one of the coordinators of the anti-discrimination student movement, told Barta24.com, "We first worked to collect the list of those killed and injured in the anti-discrimination movement. I spoke to the chief coordinator of the movement and information adviser to the interim government, Nahid Islam, about this. He instructed me to inquire about the unknown martyrs killed in the anti-discrimination movement and the mass graves. I have already started working.
Qadir, who proposed the 9-point demand in the anti-discrimination movement, also said that inquiries are being made about the mass graves on behalf of the anti-discrimination movement. In mid-November, the chief adviser to the interim government, Dr. Mohammad Yunus, is scheduled to visit. At that time, more instructions will be issued regarding the renovation and preservation of the mass graves to protect the memory of the unknown martyrs.
According to Anjuman Mufidul Islam, during the movement, the Anjuman buried a total of 69 bodies, including two bodies each from 4 hospitals and Kamalapur Railway Station and Palestine Embassy, from July 22 to August 26. Usually, unidentified bodies are kept in hospitals for a few days.
According to Anjuman, the organization buried these bodies at the intellectual graveyard in Rayer Bazar in the capital. Of these bodies, the organization buried 11 bodies on July 22, 1 on July 23, 9 on July 24, 3 on July 5, 7 on July 27, 11 on July 28, 1 on July 29 and 3 on July 31. However, they did not bury any bodies from July 14 to 21, the organization said. In addition, they buried 23 bodies until August 26.
According to Anjuman Mufidul Islam, they have collected from Dhaka Medical, Suhrawardy Medical College, Mitford Medical, Shaheed Tajuddin Medical. They have not collected any bodies from outside except from the medical colleges.
According to information, the graveyard authorities do not have an account of the number of bodies buried from August 1 to August 11. The people in charge have also admitted this.
They said that no unidentified bodies were buried there during this period though the most horrific killings were carried out during that period of August. Most of the students and the public were killed in the firing by the police and government party leaders.
According to Anjuman, only 69 bodies have been buried in the Rayer Bazar graveyard. Usually, there is a specific place for burying unclaimed bodies. However, more than a hundred have been found there by counting the number of graves buried there. Speaking to those in charge of the Rayerbazar graveyard, it was learned that 81 unidentified bodies were buried in July and 33 in August. However, those in charge of the Jurain and Mirpur Intellectual Graveyards said that no unidentified bodies were buried.
