Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK) expresses deep concern over the detention of cartoonist Ahmed KabirKishor and writer Mushtak Ahmed, and Didarul Bhuiyan of Rastrochinta. ASK thinks that suchan incident goes against the freedom of speech, human rights and the key principles ofdemocracy. ASK expresses deep concern and protest over this incident, and calls for theimmediate release of the detainees without any further harassment.<\/p>\n
According to different media reports, on 5 May 2020 the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-3detained cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore and writer Mushtak Ahmed under Digital SecurityAct from the Capital\u2019s Kakrail and Lalmatia for a controversial post on a social media platform,Facebook. Later, the detainees were handed over to the Ramna Police Station. On a differentnote, an allegation arose that Rastrochinta activist, DidarulBhuiyan was detained by somepeople who identified themselves as RAB. On the evening of Tuesday 5 May, Didarul wasdetained from his residence at North Badda, Dhaka. His laptop and mobile phone were alsoseized. It has been heard that some people in civil dresses arrived near his residence in twomicro buses just before the iftar. They introduced themselves as RAB personnel. They even toldthat Didarul would be released just after an interrogation.<\/p>\n
Arresting a citizen without a warrant in civil dress is against the Constitution, principles ofhuman rights, against the High Court directive on this matter. From the verybeginning of the enactment of the Digital Security Act, human rights activists and journalists expressedtheir apprehension regarding the misuse of some of its provisions. Their fear has come truesince its enactment and the misuse of this act has reached its peak. If this continues, the lawwill become a tool for suppressing dissenting opinions. ASK demands the concernedgovernment authority to take the effective initiative to prevent the misuse of this law afterconsidering this matter with extreme importance. At the same time, ASK demands thegovernment locates Didarul who was abducted by people posing as RAB personnel. Freedom ofexpression and opinion is the main characteristic of a country with democratic ideology, justiceand human rights. ASK hopes that the government will act responsibly to preserve the right tofreedom of expression and opinion.<\/p>\n