Inside the Aynaghar: ‘It felt like living in a grave’

Mikel Changma UPDF leader  Detention: Apr 9, 2019 to Aug 7, 2024

Mikel Changma, a political organiser of the United Peoples’ Democratic Front (UPDF), could not see daylight for five years after being picked up by some plainclothes men on April 9, 2019.

“During my captivity, the only sunlight I glimpsed was through the gap under the door or the ventilator. I finally saw the outside world again early on August 7 this year when they [abductors] released me,” he said.

Following his detention from the capital’s Shyamoli, he had been held in four to five secret prisons, widely known as “Aynaghar”.

When Mikel was dropped off on a road in Chattogram, he was unaware of the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government two days ago.

Over the last five years, his family has endured severe pain and mental anguish.

Believing that Mikel was dead, the family even performed his funeral rites. His father passed away “mourning the loss of his son”.

In an interview with The Daily Star, the leader of the Chittagong Hill Tracts-based UPDF on Monday remembered his ordeal in the secret prisons.

“On the night of August 6, I was blindfolded and forced into a car. I thought they would take me somewhere and kill me….

“After picking me up, the abductors interrogated me on putting logs on a road in Khagrachhari in support of a blockade during a rally of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. They enquired about a case in which I was accused of a murder. I told them that I was not involved in those incidents,” Mikel said.

Even though he was not physically tortured, his time in solitary confinement was so harsh that he described it as severe psychological torture.

“I was held in such inhumane conditions that felt like living in a grave. The room had no windows and no fresh air, just four enclosed walls.”

Mikel, aged about 45, had a run-in with a prison supervisor. After that incident, he endured heightened psychological torture and was denied proper meals for a while.

“They often served me curry that was either too salty or excessively spicy. I survived on just rice for a whole month, which led to noticeable weight loss,” he said.

The psychological torment became so intolerable that Mikel begged the supervisor to end his life instead of prolonging his suffering.

“When I fell sick during the last Ramadan, doctors told them that I needed care. They then started providing proper meals.”

Talking about the secret prison, the UPDF leader said the rooms would be about 77 to 96 square feet in size and contain a small bed, either iron or wooden, measuring three by seven feet.

He said there were other detainees in those detention centres, but they hardly had any interaction with each other.

During his captivity, Mikel shared a room with two other prisoners — Saidur from Rangpur and Ershad from Kochukhet in Dhaka — at different times. He also found out about two more prisoners in adjacent cells through overhearing discussions. However, he has no idea about their fate.

Upon hearing that Saidur would be moved to another secret prison, Mikel had Saidur memorise his sister’s phone number. But he later realised that he had given Saidur the wrong last digit.

He also said that he caught glimpses of some other detainees of different ages while being taken to the washroom.

Accusing state forces of abducting him, Mikel demanded those responsible for stealing five valuable years of his life be brought to book.

He said he would take legal action following his recovery from illness.

Daily Star