¶¶Òõ¾«Æ·

THE six coordinators of the protests, banded under Students against Discrimination that sought reforms in civil service job reservations, have issued a joint statement putting out a call for justice for the killing of unarmed people during the protests and noting that their earlier statement calling off the protests that was circulated while they were in custody of the Detective Branch was forced. This indicates duplicity and deceit that the government employed to contain the protest for a legitimate cause. The coordinators issued the statement on August 2 a day after their release from the Detective Branch custody where they had been detained without facing any charges after police personnel in plain clothes had picked them up in July 26–27. They were detained in the wake of protests and the consequent mayhem that left more than 200 dead and several thousand wounded in July. While they were in Detective Branch custody, a video message did the rounds on the web and social media in the evening on July 28 stating that the coordinators called off their protests. People all could then well surmise that the statement on the protest withdrawal was extracted under duress even after the Detective Branch had brushed such allegations of their fellows, who accused the police of having forced ‘the scripted statement at gunpoint.’

The surmise, made in the light of presumption and logic, has now become a reality as the coordinators in their joint statement explained. The police have also claimed that the protest coordinators were taken in custody to provide them with the security that they had sought. But the coordinators now say, as people could then guess well, that they had never sought any police protection. They were, rather, detained ‘unconstitutionally and unlawfully.’ What makes the irony about this is that they had, in fact, sought security against involuntary disappearances, arrest and torture and wanted a guarantee of their right to the freedom of expression. But the police detained them, and allegedly tortured them, in custody and made them say under duress what the government wanted them to say. The coordinators have also noted that the police kept their family in the dark about the hunger strike they had gone on since July 30 and they were forced to sit down to a dinner with the then chief of the Detective Branch. The police videoed the event and released it to the public. This constitutes not only a mere deceit but also a crime and repression of citizens. This is denying them their constitutionally guaranteed indefeasible rights unlawfully to advance the false cause of the government.

While relevant authorities must, in the wake of the police having forced the statement of the protest leaders, take exemplary legal action against the police personnel responsible, it is expected that the court should look into the issue along with that of the six coordinators having been detained for days without any charges. The authorities must also ensure justice for all the murders that took place at the hands of the ruling Awami League fronts and law enforcement units.