Chittagong Correspondent //

The Democratic Rights Committee believes that the investigation into the murder of lawyer Saiful Islam (Alif) in the Chittagong court premises is not being conducted properly. The organization says that the interests of the arrest-business and the interests of the group that benefits from communal incitement are working in parallel around this murder case.

The Democratic Rights Committee made such observations at a press conference titled ‘On-site inspection of the situation after the murder of lawyer Alif in Chittagong: Observations and proposals’. They held this press conference at the National Press Club this Sunday morning.

Chinmoy Krishna Das Brahmachari, spokesperson of the Bangladesh Sammilit Sanatani Jagran Jote, was arrested in Dhaka on November 25. The next day, when he was presented at the Chittagong court, a conflict situation arose and lawyer Saiful Islam was killed.

A delegation of the Democratic Rights Committee went to Chittagong on December 23 to observe the situation in Chittagong. In view of that, the Democratic Rights Committee presented their observations and proposals today.

At the press conference, the Democratic Rights Committee said that six cases have been filed so far regarding the murder and clash of lawyer Saiful. In these cases, 390 people have been named as accused and more than 2,400 people have been made anonymous accused. Due to the presence of about 2,500 anonymous accused, allegations of arrest and trafficking have been found.

10 people from Harijan Colony have been arrested. The condition of their wives and children is very deplorable. The Democratic Rights Committee also mentioned that most of the men, except those who work, have run away from home.

At the press conference, Anu Muhammad, a member of the Democratic Rights Committee, said that anyone can be among the anonymous accused, so widespread harassment has begun. The arrest-trade of the police and those who are somehow powerful can harass, threaten, and extort money from anyone for this. This is going on during Hasina’s tenure. The issue is being repeated.

Anu Muhammad also said that another problem is that there is a communal aspect to this, which they are also very concerned about. They can see an activity by those who do politics of creating discrimination in the name of religion. They are now carrying out provocative activities.

The interests of the arrest-trade and the interests of some groups who profit from it by inciting communal hatred – these two interests have come together to create a situation in Chittagong, Anu Muhammad mentioned. He said that more uncertainty is being created ahead. More problems may arise from this uncertainty and the whole of Bangladesh may be tarnished for this.

At the press conference, the Democratic Rights Committee said that two temples and eight houses in Harijan Colony were vandalized on the day of the murder of lawyer Saiful. Two days after the incident, on November 29, after the holy Friday prayers, a group of miscreants vandalized and looted the Harijan Colony. This news was not reported in any media. No case was filed in the case of vandalizing the temples and houses of Harijans.

At the press conference, Samina Lutfa, associate professor of the Department of Sociology at Dhaka University, said, “Even after five months of the mass uprising, people of a community are being marginalized in this way just because of their religious identity and the tendency to use religion as a bait for communal politics.” There is no response from the government on this matter. As a citizen, one has to be worried and wonder what the place of the people is in what is going on in the name of July aspirations.” At today’s press conference, lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua read out a written statement. He said, “We are surprised that the case filing and investigation process were not conducted properly. After observing the mass indictment in the cases and the method of conducting the investigation, we did not feel that the various departments involved were sincere in the question of proper justice for this murder.” After our visit to Chittagong, after returning to Dhaka, an SI of the local police station went to Sevakpalli and threatened the Harijans and said that if they (the Harijans) identify the real criminals, he will arrange for the release of the 10 people who have been arrested. Even ordinary Hindus are living in fear of arrest.’

Noting that it did not seem impossible to find out who or what killed lawyer Saiful, the Democratic Rights Committee said that there are 20 to 25 CCTV cameras from the road in front of the court to the scene of the incident. There are even 3 to 4 CCTV cameras next to the scene of the incident. Looking at the location of those cameras, it seems that it is possible to identify the killers specifically by looking at the footage. But no discussion is heard about this footage.

Lawyer Manzoor-al-Matin also believes that filing cases and arrests should be avoided at all costs because of being a traditionalist. He said at today’s press conference that many lawyers of the Chittagong Bar were directly involved in the July coup. Many of them have been sued here. This is highly condemnable. A lawyer has the right to continue his legal profession. Lawyers are being prevented from continuing their profession there.

5 proposals-

The Democratic Rights Committee presented five proposals at the press conference. They are, ensuring justice in the murder of lawyer Saiful, a proper investigation into the incident of chaos and vandalism in the court premises, finding the instigators in this incident. At the same time, it is also demanded to ensure justice by filing cases in the vandalism and arson incidents in Sevakpalli and another Hindu palli nearby at the time of the incident.

The proposal also calls for the need to quickly identify those who wanted to lead this situation to communal riots.

The proposal says that the unfair and unreasonable harassment of Harijans in Sevakpalli on Bundle Road and the terror created there must be stopped immediately. Mass arrests and arrest-trafficking must be stopped. The CCTV footage of the incident must be examined. No one can be arrested without a specific charge.

It is also demanded that all accused and detained persons, including Chinmoy Krishna Das, be guaranteed the right to justice.

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