Speakers, including academics, on Monday demanded release of detained ‘innocent’ ethnic individuals from the Bawm community in Bandarban and withdrawal of cases against them.
They also demanded stopping mass arrests and harassment of Bawm people in the district in the name of joint operation for their alleged involvement with the armed hill group Kuki-Chin National Front.
They made the demands at a rally under the banner ‘Students-Teachers-Public against Racial Oppression in Hills’ in front of national museum at Shahbagh in Dhaka.
Anthem Bawm, a student, said that ethnic Bawm people were taking refuge in the forest, living in constant fear due to the mass arrests, conducted by security forces.
On Sunday, three Bawm individuals, including a young footballer, were allegedly shot by security forces, while seeking shelter in an area of Bandarban to evade mass arrests, he noted.
While this kind of operation should be carried out with the assurance of protecting general people, the actions of security forces – harassing, arresting, and killing innocent individuals – constituted serious violations of human rights, he added.
He said that joint forces, so far, arrested around 200 people in the cases, filed over the incidents of bank robberies, arms snatching, and abduction on April 2 and 3.
Their demands also included ensuring security of the civilians, and identifying the real criminals and bringing them under law.
Dhaka University professor Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan, singer Farzana Wahid Shayan, Pahari Chattra Parishad president Aungkon Chakma and journalist Saydia Gulrukh also spoke at the rally, conducted by former Bangladesh Chhatra Fedaration president Golam Mostafa.