The High Court on Monday criticized dissemination of images showing six coordinators of the quota reform movement being fed at the Detective Branch (DB) office in the capital.
During a hearing on a writ petition, Additional Attorney General Mohammad Mehedi Hasan Chowdhury remarked, “We saw on television that these six coordinators are eating with forks.”
Responding to this, the High Court said, “Whoever you (DB) took into custody, you made them sit at the dining table. Who is asking you to do these things? Do not mock the nation like this.”
The hearing, which began at 1:30 pm, took place before the High Court bench comprising Justice Mustafa Zaman Islam and Justice SM Masud Hossain Dolon.
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Earlier, Supreme Court lawyers Ainun Nahar Siddiqa and Manjur Al Matin filed the petition, seeking a directive for law enforcement agencies to refrain from shooting at quota reform protesters and demanding the immediate release of the six coordinators currently under DB custody. The court set Tuesday for the verdict on the writ petition.
During the hearing, lawyer Manzur Al Matin stated that protesters were being fired upon indiscriminately, with video footage available in various international media outlets, including BBC and Al Jazeera.
The Home Minister himself has acknowledged that 147 people died during the recent unrest. “Government forces were armed, while the agitators were unarmed. We can provide video footage from the last few days,” Manzur added.
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The High Court, however, noted that many foreign media, including BBC Bangla, had distorted the news, suggesting that such reports should not be accepted without scrutiny.
Addressing the deaths of children during the violence, Manzur highlighted that one child was shot while playing on a rooftop.
The High Court then asked, “Who is responsible?”
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Manzur responded unequivocally, “Undoubtedly, the government is responsible.”