THE detention of actor Nusraat Faria in an attempted murder case filed in connection with the shooting of protesters in early days of the July 2024 uprising that toppled the Awami League government is worrying. The actor, who played the role of Sheikh Hasina in the 2023 biopic Mujib: The Making of a Nation, was detained by immigration officials at Dhaka airport on May 18 when she was leaving for Thailand. The officials handed over the actor to the Bhatara police, who recorded the case on May 3 against 283 people, including at least 17 artistes along with Awami League leaders and activists. The plaintiff alleged that he had sustained a bullet injury in the right leg in the Pacca Rasta area at Bhatara in Dhaka and had fallen unconscious on July 19, 2024, during the student protests. The detention has sparked wide criticism on social media, where netizens, artistes, journalists and others have speculated that Nusraat Faria has been detained not for any of her actions during the uprising but for her acting in the role of Sheikh Hasina.
Many close to the actor claim that she was not even at home during the uprising and wrote on social media supporting the students and criticising the repression of the Awami League government. The cultural affairs adviser has, meanwhile, termed the detention 鈥榚mbarrassing.鈥� What, however, is alarming is not only the detention of an actor in a case that appears to have named people arbitrarily but that such cases and detention do a disservice to the cause of justice for the hundreds killed and injured during the uprising. A number of advisers and high law enforcement officials, in the wake of concern raised by various quarters, earlier spoke of not entertaining blanket murder or attempt to murder cases. But such cases and detention in such cases have continued. There are many named people, including artistes and other professionals, whose connection or complicity in incidents of murder during the July uprising largely appears untenable. Allegations are also there that many artistes and other professionals have been accused in these cases for ulterior motives of some vested interests. One of the major problems with such blanket murder cases is that they dilute the crimes of those who are truly responsible, many of whom have already fled the country and are still at large.
The authorities should, therefore, ensure that none is implicated or detained in cases without proper investigation and specific charges. The authorities should not let blanket murder cases dilute the crimes that many in the government of the Awami League or its fronts and the law enforcement agencies committed.