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Published : 02 Aug 2024, 03:14 PM
The six quota reform protest coordinators who were released say they did not want to give a statement calling off the movement while in police custody.
They say the Detective Branch of police forced them to sit at a dining table for the video and make a false statement to the media.
The joint statement from the coordinators was released at 11:30am on Friday. In addition to sharing the statement with journalists on WhatsApp, it was also posted on Facebook by several protest coordinators.
Three convenors of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement – Md Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, and Abu Baker Majumder – were brought from Dhaka’s Ganashasthaya Nagar Hospital to the DB office on Jul 26.
The following day, two other coordinators – Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah – were picked up and taken from the Science Laboratory area to the DB office.
On Jul 28, another coordinator Nusrat Tabassum was forcefully picked up from her home by DB personnel.
Dhaka Metropolitan DB Additional Commissioner Harunor Rashid had previously said they had taken the coordinators into custody for questioning and their own security.
On Jul 28, in a video message from the DB office, the six coordinators announced an end to the quota protest movement.
That night Harunor had posted a video of him and the six coordinators eating together at a table. This led to widespread criticism on social media.
On Jul 31, Dhaka Metropolitan Police moved him out of DB. He is currently holding the post of DMP additional commissioner (crime).
In their latest statement, the six coordinators said the video statement they made in custody was not at their own will.
No statement calling off the movement can be made from DB custody, they said.
No final decision on the movement will be taken without the participation of all coordinators and agitating students across the country, they said.
“We were forced to sit at the dining table and videotaped at the DB office. After assuring us of our release, our families were made to wait for 13 hours as a false statement was given to the media. When our teachers came to see us, they were not allowed in.”
The six coordinators went on a hunger strike for 32 hours while in custody at the office, the statement said.
Nahid, Asif, and Abu Baker started the strike on the night of Jul 30. When they learnt of the strike, the other three joined as well.
“The hunger strike was kept secret from our families and the media. After a hunger strike lasting nearly 32 hours, the DB chief took the final decision to release the six coordinators and the strike ended.
“At 1:30pm on Aug 1 we were released to the custody of our families. During the past seven days at the DB offices, our families have faced harassment, violence, and staged drama. We strongly condemn and protest this.”
The statement said the six coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement have been abducted, arrested, tortured, and harassed in an effort to break the movement since Jul 19.
Though the home minister and DB chief spoke of security, the goal was to isolate them from the movement, they said.
“We sought safety from abduction, arrest, and torture. We wanted guarantees on our right to express our opinions. But we were detained in DB custody unconstitutionally and illegally. Though they talked about security at first, then they began talking about the court. That we could not be released until after the court decision.”
The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement will continue to demand justice for the murders of students and citizens and the release of innocent people, the statement said.
It also called on the people of the country to ignore the government’s false propaganda and repression and take to the streets.
“The blood of the martyrs will not be shed in vain,” it said.
Newly appointed DB chief Md Ashrafuzzaman told bdnews24.com that the coordinators had said at the time that they had issued the statement willingly.
“They gave the statement willingly. You can see it in the video. If someone there did something… then it is a matter of ethics.”
Asked whether the coordinators were forced to eat in custody, the additional commissioner said during their time at the DB office they ate at different times.
He said their new statements were not correct.
Additional Commissioner Harunor Rashid, who was transferred from duty as DB chief, said the coordinators had given their statements voluntarily and there had been no offences against them.
Their families made that same statement to the media afterwards, he added.
But protest coordinator Asif said the six coordinators of the movement are united in their new statement.
“We coordinated this new statement,” he said.
