ASK questions Rajuk mobile court drive on its office

There may be “something else” behind the fines a Rajuk mobile court slapped the Ain O Salish Kendra or ASK with for operating office in a residential building in Dhaka, the legal aid and human rights organisation suspects.

ASK questioned the drive of the capital’s development agency at a press conference on Friday, a day after the raid at Lalmatia.

The way the Rajuk conducted the drive was an “existential threat” to the non-profit groups related to the people’s welfare, development, and human rights, the organisation fears.

The ASK has been operating by renting four apartments in a five-storey building. Seven more organisations set up offices on different floors of the building.

But the Rajuk officials threatened to arrest the ASK staffers and to seal off the office even though the organisation was only a tenant, ASK Executive Director Sheepa Hafiza said in a written statement.

Accusing the mobile court of “taking confession forcefully”, she said, "So it is reasonable to raise the question whether there was any ulterior motive behind the fines slapped on the ASK.”

On Thursday, the mobile court fined the organisations operating in the building total Tk 600,000, including ASK Tk 200,000. The owners were fined Tk 700,000 for renting out a residential building on official purposes.

Executive Magistrate Jasmine Akhter ordered all organisations to leave the building within two months.

“I’ve never heard that a mobile court asked an NGO why it is operating in a rented house. We tried to understand why we drew wrath. The law that is not applicable to us has been imposed on us. There may be some other reason,” Hafiza said.

The ASK also questioned the Rajuk mobile court’s attitude and behaviour.

ASK has long been saying that parts of the mobile court law are debatable.

“They only accept cash, but it is difficult for a small organisation to pay a large amount in cash all of a sudden. They threatened to arrest our staffers if they could not pay within 30 minutes,” Hafiza said.

“We tried to make them understand for two and a half hours that tenants have nothing to do with the building law. They didn't want to understand it. Which means they can abet a crime if the law is not clear to them,” she said.

ASK Secretary General Tahmina Rahman questioned the mobile court order and the process of its operation saying, "The decision of the Rajuk’s mobile court is unacceptable.”