Ain o Salish Kendra expresses grave concern and strongly condemns the police action on a road march from Dhaka to Sundarbans, which was organised by Ganatantrik Bam Morcha to demand cancellation of Rampal power plant project.

According to media reports, as part of the road march titled “Road March to save the Sundarbans” a team set off from Dhaka on 16 October 2015 and participants were obstructed by the police in Manikganj district on that day. Police charged truncheons on them, leaving at least 10 marchers injured. On the other side, police hindered participants from moving forward in Rajbari’s Goalanda, Jessore, Jhenaidah and Magura on Saturday (17 October 2015). At least 10 people were injured when police in Magura charged batons.

Participants alleged that local Awami League activists in different areas also teamed up with police to attack them.

We want to remind the government as well as law enforcement agencies that the right to participate in peaceful processions, rallies and road marches is enshrined in Bangladesh Constitution, which means this is a democratic right of the people.

Police claimed that they obstructed the road march as it disrupted traffic in different areas. We want to remind police that it is their duty to ensure that people can protest peacefully and traffic is not disrupted, according to human rights standards. It is a violation of human rights to prevent people from taking part in peaceful protests using traffic disruption as an excuse.

We call on the government to take more careful measures for protecting people’s rights during any peaceful protest in the future. We also demand that the law enforcement officials responsible for using excessive force be identified and subjected to disciplinary actions.