Freedom fighter Manik Pashari, the plaintiff in a case against the late Delawar Hossain Sayedee, who was convicted of crimes against humanity, died on Friday morning (October 23). However, his burial was reportedly delayed for nearly 17 hours due to various obstacles.

Pashari’s family members alleged that local activists of Jamaat-e-Islami obstructed his burial. He was eventually laid to rest in his family graveyard in Pirojpur late Saturday night. According to reports, female members of his family had to take part in the burial due to the absence of other people.

The incident has sparked widespread criticism and protests across the country. Veteran actor and freedom fighter Sohel Rana has also expressed his outrage in a Facebook post.

In his post, Sohel Rana wrote, “A valiant freedom fighter from the battlefields of 1971. Forces opposed to independence obstructed his burial. Under the light of a hurricane lantern, his daughter herself dug the earth to prepare her father’s grave. The previous grave had been filled with soil by the defeated enemies of independence.”

Expressing further anger over the incident, he wrote, “The pro-liberation forces are supposedly running the government now. Yet there was no sign of it. Those who obstructed the burial should have been shot dead in public. I demand a proper answer from the government.”

Sohel Rana also expressed his anguish over the treatment of freedom fighters, writing, “Freedom fighters are now in the final stages of their lives. But perhaps we have failed to pass the spark of the Liberation War on to the next generation. Otherwise, neither protest nor resistance is visible.”

Emphasising the deep pain such incidents cause among freedom fighters, he called on pro-liberation forces to rise up and unite.

Concluding his post, Sohel Rana wrote, “Before departing for the world beyond, news like this causes anguish for me and other freedom fighters as well. Pro-liberation forces, everyone, rise up. No more forgiveness this time.”