She also stressed the need to ensure justice and said the trial process must not be obstructed under any circumstances.
Tahsina Rushdir Luna, wife of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali, speaks at a discussion meeting at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka on 17 January 2026. Photo: Collected
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Tahsina Rushdir Luna, wife of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali, speaks at a discussion meeting at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka on 17 January 2026. Photo: Collected
Tahsina Rushdir Luna, wife of missing BNP leader M Ilias Ali, has claimed that BNP activist Iftekhar Ahmed Dinar was forcibly picked up as a “test case” just 15 days before the disappearance of Ilias.
Speaking at a discussion in Dhaka today (17 January), Luna said, “Ilias Ali went missing on 17 April 2012, while his close associate Iftekhar was abducted 15 days earlier. At the time, we did not fully understand it, but later it became clear that Iftekhar was abducted as a test case.”
The discussion was held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre, where BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman exchanged views with families of victims of enforced disappearances, killings and torture during the previous Awami League government.
The programme was jointly organised by Amra BNP Paribar and Mayer Daak. Victim families from different parts of the country participated in the event.
Luna, also a member of the BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council, placed demands before Tarique Rahman for the rehabilitation of families affected by enforced disappearances, including that of her husband Ilias, then organising secretary (Sylhet division) of BNP.
She also stressed the need to ensure justice and said the trial process must not be obstructed under any circumstances.
“We have spoken many times about enforced disappearances,” Luna said. “These families have not only lost the head of their households, but after the disappearances they have also been harassed in many ways.”
She alleged that families of the disappeared were subjected to threats, intimidation and social humiliation. As a result, she said, she was forced to change her daughter’s school.
“Even in public places, we had to endure various comments from people,” she added.
Luna also said families of enforced disappearance victims continue to suffer severe financial hardship.
“Wherever we go, people identify us as ‘disappearance families’. That label has become our identity,” she said.
On the night of 17 April 2012, Ilias Ali disappeared while returning home from Dhaka’s Mohakhali area, along with his driver, Ansar Ali.
Later that night, his vehicle was found abandoned in Mohakhali, but no information has emerged about the whereabouts of either Ilias Ali or his driver since.
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