Who is Mir Ahmad bin Qasem Arman?

Mir Ahmad bin Qasem, also known as Barrister Arman, is a Bangladeshi barrister and human rights activist who is alleged to have been a victim of enforced disappearance by Bangladesh’s Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI). Mir Ahmad is the son of the late Mir Quasem Ali, a prominent leader of the opposition political party Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, and prior to his abduction he was a member of his father’s legal defense team at the International Crimes Tribunal.

On August 6, 2024, Mir Ahmad was released and returned to his family. Fee Amanillah.

Early Life and Education:

Mir Ahmad was born in Mirpur, Dhaka. He is the third among two brothers and three sisters. Mir Ahmad completed his O-Level and A-Level education in English medium from Manarat Dhaka International School. He later obtained an LLB (Honours) degree from the University of London and completed the Bar-at-Law in 2007 from the renowned Lincoln’s Inn in the United Kingdom. Subsequently, he was called to the Bar of England and Wales and earned the title of Barrister.

News of the Abduction in International Media:

On March 1, 2019, during Al Jazeera’s Head to Head program, Mir Ahmad’s lawyer Michael Polak questioned Bangladeshi Foreign Affairs Adviser Gowher Rizvi about Mir Ahmad’s abduction case while Rizvi was being interviewed by the program’s host, Mehdi Hasan.

Mr. Rizvi promised that all allegations of enforced disappearances would be investigated and that he would personally assist with Mir Ahmad’s case. Foreign Policy also reported on Mir Ahmad’s abduction, highlighting the issue of enforced disappearances in Bangladesh.

David Bergman wrote in an investigative report in The Wire that Mir Ahmad may have been abducted directly on the orders of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. It was alleged that Hasina gave clearance to Bangladesh’s military intelligence agency, the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI), to illegally detain Mir Ahmad.

This was part of the government’s increasing crackdown on opposition parties. Mir Ahmad’s case also made international headlines when Channel 4 News presenter Alex Thomson asked Hampstead and Kilburn MP Tulip Siddiq—who is the niece of Bangladesh’s Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina—whether she would help influence the Bangladeshi government to secure Mir Ahmad’s release. In a report by AFP, quoted by Yahoo News,

a Bangladeshi lawyer described the details of Mir Ahmad’s disappearance and alleged direct involvement from the highest levels of the Bangladeshi government.