“Sheikh Hasina rightly understood Muhammad Yunus,” says Anis Alamgir after release from jail

BD Digest Report

Released after three months in prison, senior journalist Anis Alamgir has expressed his anger over the interim government’s chief advisor Dr. Muhammad Yunus and the current political situation in the country. Immediately after his release, he commented, “Sheikh Hasina used to call Yunus bad, we didn’t believe her then. But now I see that she (Sheikh Hasina) really knew Yunus.”

Anis Alamgir made many sensational comments while facing the media after being released from Kashimpur Central Jail-2 on Saturday (March 15) afternoon. Standing at the prison gate, he alleged that he had been not only treated unfairly, but also oppressed.

Criticizing the previous government, he said, “Sheikh Hasina’s government was an extended form of the one-eleven government. But now, if the ‘lawful oppression’ that Dr. Yunus has introduced continues, the common people will not take it well in any way.”

Anis Alamgir was arrested in a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act after his arrest from Dhanmondi on December 14 last year. In this context, he said, “It goes without saying how ridiculous it is to use the Anti-Terrorism Act against a journalist. But in the last one and a half years, thousands of people have been imprisoned in the same way.”

Describing his experience in prison, the senior journalist said that there were no big leaders inside, but rather numerous ordinary and rank-and-file workers of a particular party (Awami League). He raised the question, “If you go to any prison, you will see that only political workers of one party are serving time. Cases have been filed against them for terrorism. Does political opposition make everyone a terrorist now? Has the definition of terrorism changed?”

Many see Anis Alamgir’s release as a change in the political situation after the BNP came to power on February 17. However, observers remind us that the culture of journalist torture and lawsuits existed during the BNP’s tenure from 2001 to 2006. As a result, there is doubt in the public mind whether the situation will change if the current state structure does not change.

Anis Alamgir further added that he is getting media coverage because he is a well-known face. But thousands of nameless people are still being held without trial in various prisons including Kashimpur due to their political affiliation. He also questioned why the issues of human rights violations during Dr. Yunus’s tenure were not discussed in the international arena or in Geneva.