Nusraat Faria’s arrest sends an ominous message to the people
After the shocking news of popular actress Nusraat Faria's arrest at Dhaka airport in an attempted murder case and that she was sent to jail, it is a relief to know that she finally got bail on Tuesday. Even in this current environment where arbitrary murder cases are being filed against hundreds of individuals thought to be Awami League sympathisers or beneficiaries, this arrest was particularly jarring.
Nusraat Faria has been accused in an attempt-to-murder case along with 265 other people, 17 of them actors. The victim, who filed the case, suffered bullet injuries on July 19 last year during the student-led mass uprising.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. How believable is this accusation—that Nusraat was somehow involved in causing the bullet injuries of a man in the Vatara area?
Apparently, the allegations against Nusraat and the 264 other accused include financing the AL during the quota reform protests. First of all, what does this mean? Did they pay money to the AL regime to help them shoot down protesters? Does this not sound illogical, if not ludicrous? If any of the accused have had underhanded deals with the AL regime that benefited them financially, then they should be accused of corruption, and cases can be filed on that basis. But to file cases against hundreds of individuals whose links to the killings of protesters are downright flimsy, if not preposterous, leads to only one conclusion: that these individuals are being harassed due to some link or the other with the AL regime or because of someone's personal grudge.
In Nusraat's case, it could be mere professional jealousy, or it may be because she played Sheikh Hasina in a biopic on Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, or both. Does this mean any actor or anyone associated with this movie can be accused of being involved in Hasina's brutal crackdown on protesters? Will this bring justice for those killed or solace to those grieving their loved ones? Can we equate those who actually pulled the trigger and those who ordered them to do so with those who may or may not have had ties to the ousted regime?
We are treading on a dangerous path here, where the legal system is being manipulated with the intention of getting revenge rather than justice. This will make the entire legal system questionable and erode people's trust in it.
Now, why does that ring a bell? Because it reminds us of the arbitrary cases filed against members of BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami by the Awami League regime. According to BNP's case record preservation cell, 141,636 cases were filed against 4,926,494 leaders and activists of the party and its affiliated organisations between 2009 and September 2023. Cases that had been hanging for years were fast-tracked at an extraordinary speed just before the 2024 election to make sure that opposition candidates could not participate. A report by The Daily Star on October 23, 2023 cited a mid-level police officer present at a BNP leader's trial in August 2023, saying that the government (AL) had given clear instructions to dispose of the trials involving BNP and other opposition party leaders before the national election.
While the present circumstances are not under an autocratic regime, the feeling of unease still exists. We really don't know why or how these cases are being filed, who gives the order to arrest, or who will be next.
At a function commemorating National Legal Aid Day on April 28, the law adviser agreed that lawsuits were being filed out of malicious intent, to harass people, or to occupy someone's property and businesses. When asked about the case filed against Iresh Zaker, he asked the journalist to expose the plaintiffs and see whether the cases were filed due to enmity or ulterior motives.
The home adviser's comments about Nusraat Faria's arrest were hardly reassuring, "Now, if there's a case against her, what should we do? If we let her go, then you would say, 'Sir, you spared her.'"
Both the law and home advisers have said that though cases have been filed (and there's really nothing they can do about that; anyone can file a case against anyone, it seems), the government has instructed the law enforcement agencies to make sure no innocent person is unnecessarily harassed. Unfortunately, these statements do not translate into ground realities. It seems arrests are made because of rivalry or revenge rather than actual suspicion of committing the crime.
The images of a young actress, who wasn't even in the country during the July uprising and who has shown her sadness over the deaths of protesters on social media, being escorted by law enforcers to the court and jostled by the crowd have been distressing, to say the least. Even though she has been granted bail, nothing will erase the trauma of being arrested for attempted murder and spending a night in jail. If the purpose of this ordeal was to punish her for playing the role of Sheikh Hasina in a film, that is just vengeance, not justice. The filing of cases on the basis of personal vendetta must stop immediately. It is making a mockery of our legal system.
Aasha Mehreen Amin is joint editor at The Daily Star.
Follow The Daily Star Opinion on Facebook for the latest opinions, commentaries, and analyses by experts and professionals. To contribute your article or letter to The Daily Star Opinion, see our guidelines for submission.
Comments