Statement withdrawing quota protests taken forcibly, claim 6 coordinators

A day after their release from the custody of Detective Branch, six coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement on Friday claimed that they were forced to give a statement withdrawing the protests. 

The six organisers, Nahid Islam, Asif Mahmud, Abu Baker Majumder, Hasnat Abdullah, Sarjis Alam, and Nusrat Tabassum, made the claim in a joint statement.

The statement said the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement are being arrested and harassed to disperse the movement and leadership. In continuation of this, six organisers were held captive in the DB custody for seven days in the name of safety.

“Though the home minister, and DB chief talked about security, we were kept into the DB custody to isolate us from the protests,” the statement reads. 

“We did not give voluntarily the statement of six coordinators withdrawing the movement circulated from the DB office. The false statement was made in the media with assurance of releasing us,” according to the statement.

The six coordinators in the statement also vowed to continue the programmes of the Anti-Discrimination Students’ Movement demanding justice for the killings of students and citizens and release of the detained innocent people.

On Thursday, the six organisers of the quota reform movement, who had been in the custody of the Detective Branch of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police for the past six days, were released.

MHA/MSU