Eminent civil society members held a sit-in program outside of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Detective Branch’s (DB) office on Thursday urging them to stop harassment and arrests of protesting students.
The program was observed around 2:30pm.
The members gathered there with a banner saying “Harassment and arrests of students and their guardians need to stop immediately”.
The members were holding placards mentioning: “Stop taking into DB custody in the name of safety”, “Stop lying”, “Stop mass cases, and mass arrests”, “Justice of July murders”, and more.
Asif Nazul, a professor at Dhaka University said: “Not only public universities, students of the private universities were attacked inhumanly. They entered inside campuses and beat the students brutally.”
He threatened to go for a movement if the detained students are not released immediately and if justice is not ensured for the killings.
Saimum Reza Talukder, lecturer at Brac University said: “Is Bangladesh now under an emergency? If not, why is our constitutional right and freedom of speech is not being ensured? Why are armed forces deployed? What happened that the current situation is like an emergency?” “The government needs to answer this question, he added”
He said students are being picked up for various reasons, and absurd reasons are being mentioned for it.
He gave the example of Arif Sohel, a Jahangirnagar University (JU) student who is facing a case of vandalizing Shetu Bhaban.
Arif was at the university when the vandalism took place at Shetu Bhaban, claimed his classmates.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan, a lawyer and environment specialist said: “What is the legal basis of this custody? We need an explanation in this regard.”
Addressing DB, she said: "We understand that you released these six coordinators before our arrival. However, we are still uncertain whether they have been safely reunited with their families. They should be allowed to work in a free environment, not confined at home with guards."
“What they are doing is not wrong. They are not breaking any law,” Rizwana added.
“We are here even after knowing that they have been released because this tradition of taking custody needs to be permanently stopped,” she demanded.
“Do you think that we are slaves?” Rizwana asked.
“You will pick us up from home whenever you want, detain us for as long as you want, feed us noodles, polao, chicken, and eggs, and send the photos to newspapers.”
Quota protest coordinators released from DB office“Who’s paying for these foods? It’s our own money,” she added. “Stop these feasts. We do not need to come to you for food.”
“You picked up some protesters from hospitals. And here you did not provide medical facilities for these beaten children,” she said.
Rizwana added: “We do not want these law-enforcement forces. We want forces who will listen to us. You have to be Bangladesh police. Don’t be Awami League police, BNP police, or Jatiya Party police. This is our demand.”
Dr Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) said: “They have forgotten the invincible strength of the students and the people, what history taught us. They have forgotten it and tortured them arbitrarily. Not only that, starting from the highest level, all the institutions resorted to lies and deception.”
“They thought the public were fools on every matter, but they are examining the foolishness of themselves; they forgot that.”
“Our program will continue and a rally will be held at 3pm in front of the National Press Club on Friday,” said Prof. Rushad Faridi of the Economic Department of Dhaka University.
Protesters sang Kazi Nazruls Islam’s song “Karar Oi Louho Kopat” during the protest.
The six coordinators of the quota reform movement were released from the custody of the Detective Branch (DB) of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) on Thursday afternoon.
They were taken to their homes by the agency's transport from the DB office on Thursday afternoon.
On Wednesday, these eminent civil society members issued an ultimatum for the unconditional release of six coordinators of the quota reform movement, within 24 hours.
