Sazzadur Rahman (Rakhal Raha)
Sazzadur Rahman is a human rights defender and an active voice in education reform, literature, and socio-political movements in Bangladesh. He is also known by his alias Rakhal Raha. As a writer, his novels and short story collections, Amavati and Chashadhe Golpo, were recognized as significant literary works of their time. Rakhal Raha founded the "Education and Child Protection Movement (Shishir)" to combat corruption in children's education, and was subsequently repressed by the state for his human rights work. In response to violence against intellectuals, he also founded the "Bangladesh Writers' Unity" and served as its founding president. His activism has spanned several movements, including protests against the Digital Security Act, education reform and labour rights, reflecting his commitment to the defence of human rights.
Human rights defenders in Bangladesh face judicial harassment, arbitrary arrest, fabricated charges, abduction, physical attacks, torture and extrajudicial killings. Local extremist groups pledging allegiance to Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent often claimed responsibility for the attacks, which have targeted HRDs who write about women’s rights, indigenous peoples’ rights, freedom of religion, and other human rights issues. Despite these risks, there was no impetus on the part of the government to address the protection needs of HRDs. The authorities have so far failed to properly investigate a majority of the murders and impunity remains a serious concern.
