Justice ABM Khairul Haque’s arrest has sent shockwaves through Bangladesh’s legal and civil society. He wasn’t just a Supreme Court judge—he was a Dhaka University law professor, a constitutional defender, and most importantly, a valiant freedom fighter.
His students today occupy top advisory roles in the current government—one of them being Asif Nazrul. Yet it is under this very government that he has been arrested, reminiscent of the 1971 intellectual killings.
🟥 বিচারপতি এবিএম খায়রুল হকের গ্রেফতার — ইতিহাসের পুনরাবৃত্তি?
তিনি শুধু একজন বিচারপতি ছিলেন না, ছিলেন ঢাকা…
Posted by Mokshud Rahman on Thursday, July 24, 2025
🔻 On December 14, 1971, Pakistan’s collaborators murdered our intellectuals.
🔻 On July 16, a decorated war hero and jurist has been seized by a regime backed by ideological descendants of those very collaborators.
What is his crime?
He handed down the death penalty to the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
He revoked the Indemnity Ordinance, which protected the assassins under Zia-Mustak’s regime.
He declared the 5th Amendment illegal, removing martial law from our Constitution.
And today, he is being targeted for striking down the Caretaker Government system?
Is a judge not supposed to rule based on arguments and constitutional merit?
If your lawyers failed to present a solid case—how is that the judge’s fault?
Are you expecting judges to read your mind instead of following evidence and law?
This is not justice. This is vengeance wrapped in legality.
Religious Extremists Never Forgave Him
Justice Khairul Haque angered Islamist hardliners by banning fatwa-based village justice, where women were flogged, publicly humiliated, or even hacked to death.
He annulled ‘hilla marriage’—another medieval abuse disguised as religion.
For this, religious zealots never forgave him. And now, the political Islamists who once wanted him silenced have found allies in state power.
Do civilised countries arrest Supreme Court judges?
No. That happens in states mimicking Pakistan’s authoritarian model—and sadly, that’s the path Bangladesh seems to be on.
Judges who sit in court today—do they not see what awaits them?
If the judiciary remains silent after such a blatant humiliation of one of its own, history will not spare anyone.
Justice ABM Khairul Haque’s arrest is not a mere legal proceeding—it’s an attack on our Liberation War ideals, on our Constitution, and on every citizen who believes in rule of law.
