Human Rights Defenders are under attack. Police arrest. Lathi charge on a peaceful gathering
Kirity Roy
Date: 28th September, 2021
Statement condemning Police brutality, illegal arrest and detention of protesters
MASUM condemns the incident of police brutality upon peaceful protestors, at Hazra crossing in Kolkata with prior information to the administration. Police resorted to lathi-charge injuring several demonstrators, arrested them and detained them illegally at Lalbazaar central lock-up. Several social activist and democratic rights group were assembled peacefully and were about to meet the District Magistrate, South 24 Parganas, at Alipur
Activists from few organizations including Adhikar, APDR, Popular Front, Bandimukti Committee, Ekusher Daak and Save Democracy organized a demonstration at Hazra More protesting against the police brutality upon Suraf Hossain, a police constable and his family by Sonarpur police on 6th August, 2021. Their agenda was to submit a deputation to the District Magistrate of South 24 Parganas district, for which, they had a prior appointment with the DM as well. However, on a sudden stance, the police personnel attached with Bhawanipore police station lodged an unprecedented attack upon the protestors who were organizing a peaceful gathering.
Many of the protestors were injured from the police lathi-charge. About 20 of them attached with different civil society organizations were illegally arrested without issuing a memo of arrest or being charged with any case and taken to the Lalbazaar police station. They were illegally detained for a long time after which a memo of arrest was issued. Some of the activists arrested during the incident are:
1. Natasha Khan
2. Shaon Das
3. Zubi Saha
4. Debanjan Chakraborty
5. Anisur Rahman
6. Ranjit Sur
7. Jagadish Sardar
8. Saroj Mondal
9. Naba Kumar Biswas
10. Debasish Bhattacharya
11. Tayedul Islam
12. Sumit Ghosh
13. Chanchal Chakraborty
14. Adbab Alam
15. Rajesh Fakir
16. Iliash Gazi
Through this statement, we put forward our protest on the state’s inclination to suppress the voice of the decent and intimidating innocent civilians by putting them behind bars using police brutality as a tool. We demand that the peaceful protestors be released immediately, the perpetrator police officers who lodged the brutal attack be booked and prosecuted under law and the right to peaceful protest be established in West Bengal.
Kirity Roy
Secretary, MASUM
Serampore, Hooghly, West Bengal
Secretary
Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha
(MASUM)
&
National Convenor (PACTI)
Programme Against Custodial Torture & Impunity
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