Gonotantrik Chhatra Jote has demanded the formation of an investigative committee against DC Masud and other police personnel involved in harassment, protesting the recent beating and mistreatment of Dhaka University student Naim Uddin by police, as well as the overall situation across the country.
Alongside this, the organisation has put forward a total of 6 demands, including the suspension from duty of DC Masud and the concerned police officers during the investigation process.
These demands were announced at a press conference organised in front of Dhaka University’s Madhur Canteen on Wednesday afternoon.
The written statement at the press conference was read by Amal Tripura, president of the Hill Students’ Council. He stated that, on Monday night, during an anti-narcotics operation in the capital’s area, police attacked Dhaka University student Naim Uddin, multimedia journalist Tofayel Ahmed, and two other bystanders.
In protest of this incident, Dhaka University students held a siege and protest, raising three demands.
Students from Naim Uddin’s department, under the banner “Department of Anthropology Against Oppression”, besieged Shahbagh Thana on Tuesday to protest the attack. From there, the protesters presented three demands. Gonotantrik Chhatra Jote expressed full solidarity with these demands and simultaneously announced six further demands.
The organisation also demanded that the education minister immediately admit his mistake and apologise for creating the context for police harassment through his “irresponsible” and “unconstitutional” statements that were “outside his jurisdiction”.
Their other demands include: A public and formal apology from the concerned police officers; stopping the “harassment” of ordinary people in the name of “anti-narcotics” operations and identifying and bringing actual drug dealers to justice; and ensuring the constitutional right of citizens to free movement and socialising in parks and gardens.
