Published: 10 March 2021, New Age
Link: ASK for judicial inquiry into death of Mushtaq

Rights group Ain O Salish Kendra on Wednesday called on the government to launch a judicial inquiry into the custodial death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed to bring perpetrators to justice.

The rights group in a statement also demanded that the government should identify the perpetrators for their reported role in mental and physical torture of the writer.

The statement also said that the judicial committee should investigate into the custodial torture alleged by cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, who was freed days after the death of writer Mushtaq on February 25.

‘The report or result of the judicial inquiry should be made public,’ the statement also read.

It also demanded an amendment to controversial Digital Security Act in consultation with the parties concern, and also not to arrest anyone until the law was amended.

In the statement, the ASK detailed the contradictions between the reports claimed by the government and the witness account by cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore, who was arrested and languished in jail with Mushtaq.

‘We firmly believe in the whole process, the human rights of Mushtaq Ahmed and Kishore Kabir were seriously violated,’ the statement read.

Mushtaq, who was detained under the DSA in early May 2020 for his social media posts criticising the government and denied bail six times during his nine-month-long detention, died in the high-security Kashimpur jail on February 25 evening.

DU correspondent reported that Progressive Students’ Alliance, an alliance of left-leaning student organisations, on Wednesday staged a protest rally demanding cancellation of the Digital Security Act, withdrawal of cases filed against seven student leaders and release of all those who were detained under the act, including Labour leader Ruhul Amin.

During the rally at Raju Memorial on Dhaka University campus, Progressive Students’ Alliance coordinator and Socialist Students’ Front president Al Qaderi Joy said termed the act undemocratic and demanded its revocation.

Earlier on the day, Bangladesh Chhatra Moitri staged a demonstration at about 11:30am at Shahbag demanding immediate abolition of the DSA