An unprovoked attack on peaceful protesters
We stand with the civil society members who have condemned an attack on a photography exhibition on extrajudicial killings organised by Drik Gallery on September 4. It is truly shocking that even protests that are organised by cultural organisations without particular political leanings are now being foiled by such aggressive and anti-democratic tendencies within certain factions.
The event in question was being streamed online from the University of Dhaka campus premises when the attack occurred. According to a statement of protest released by the civil society members, more than 100 activists of the ruling party, led by the councillor of ward 26 of Dhaka South City Corporation, were seen storming into the programme venue on the live stream. They told the protesters that the trial of the August 21 grenade attack case has to be carried out first and that no other trials can take precedence before then, after which they started pushing the rights activists, snatched photos displayed for the exhibit, tried to seize activists' mobile phones and stood in front of the gallery's banner wielding their own placards.
This is not an incident that can be easily ignored, and it reveals some disturbing truths about the state of our democracy. The fact that the police allegedly played the role of silent spectators during the whole incident is equally distressing. Why did the police allow such an unprovoked attack on peaceful protests? Since when do ruling party supporters have the authority to distinguish between the significance of different cases that are under the jurisdiction of the legal system? Do any and all supporters of the ruling party have a free pass in abusing their power with impunity? Can we claim to live in a democracy if protesters do not even have the right to peacefully stand together against an issue as serious as extrajudicial killings?
If the authorities believe in democracy and the rights of the people of this country as enshrined in the Constitution, they must answer these questions and bring the perpetrators of this unprovoked attack to account.
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