Seventy-four eminent citizens demanded unbiased, independent, transparent, and credible investigations into the killings of students and other citizens during the quota reform movement under the supervision of United Nations high-level experts.
In a statement sent to the media on Monday, they urged the government to publish a complete list of victims and hold the real perpetrators of violence accountable, regardless of their positions or political affiliations.
The signatories include rights activists Sultana Kamal, Iftekharuzzaman, Hameeda Hossain, Khushi Kabir, Rasheda K Choudhury; economists Wahiduddin Mahmud, Hossain Zillur Rahman, Anu Muhammad, Debapriya Bhattacharya, Shahdin Malik, Meghna Guhathakurta, ZI Khan Panna; Shireen Haque, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Shahidul Alam, Shamsul Huda, Badiul Alam Majumder, Sara Hossain, Asif Nazrul, Gitiara Nasreen, and Md Tanjimuddin Khan.
They alleged that the government had tried to label this completely peaceful and non-political student movement as a conspiracy by political opponents, while those opponents had similarly tried to exploit the student movement for their own political gain under the guise of solidarity since the beginning.
They also noted with profound sorrow that armoured vehicles bearing the UN logo were deployed on the streets, the Army and border security forces were mobilised, a curfew was imposed with orders to shoot on sight, sound grenades and gunfire were used from helicopters reportedly to suppress peaceful civilian protests, which was unprecedented in the history of Bangladesh.
They also demanded punishment for the perpetrators responsible for sabotage against state institutions, establishments, and assets.
They expressed anger over the incident where several coordinators and activists of the student movement have been physically tortured after being taken from their homes.
Transparency International Bangladesh, in a separate statement, said that the government had been giving a false narrative to legitimise various irresponsible activities, including the internet shutdown, to suppress the quota reform movement.
鈥業t is clear that the government has allowed the state agencies to abuse their power by failing to understand a completely non-political and peaceful movement and pushed the matter towards violence,鈥� said TIB executive director Iftekharuzzaman.
Mass arrests, cases, block raids, harassment of ordinary citizens and denial of truth should be stopped, trampling on the constitutional rights of citizens, he added.
鈥楾he 鈥榮ecurity custody鈥� has no legal basis, and detaining the students [coordinators] and forcing them to read the declaration of withdrawal of the movement is a clear violation of the constitution,鈥� he said.
In another statement, forty-five citizens, including cultural activists, journalists, painters, filmmakers, photographers and academics, demanded release of detained students and security of protesting students.
They demanded an immediate end to the harassment of students and justice of the killings.聽
The signatories to the statement included director and filmmaker Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, artiste Azmeri Haque Badhon, singer Armeen Musa, film director Ashfaq Nipun, artiste-filmmaker Ritu Sattar, curator Tanzim Wahab, academic Geetiara Nasreen, playwright Bakar Bakul.
