Some 24 prominent citizens of the country have termed police surveillance on political activities, including frisking and checking mobile phones of citizens to suppress the opposition political parties as anti-democratic and violation of human rights.  Read: Fakhrul, Abbas sent to jail ahead of BNP’s Dhaka rally They strongly condemned such police activities in a joint statement issued on Sunday. In the statement, they said "the right to assembly is our constitutional fundamental right. We urge the government to abstain from violating these fundamental rights. We also demand the government to refrain from repression and torture against the leaders and activities of the opposition parties." They also condemned the arrest of BNP leaders and activists. Read: BNP’s Nayapaltan office reopens after 4 days of police raid The signatories are-- former adviser of the caretaker government M Hafizuddin Khan, human rights activist Hameeda Hossain, founder of Gonoshasthaya Kendra Zafrullah Chowdhury, former cabinet secretary Ali Imam Majumder, SUJON secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar, professors Anu Muhammad,  Rehnuma Ahmed, lawyer Salma Ali, photographer Shahidul Alam, human rights activists  Noor Khan Liton,  Shirin Haque, Sharmin Murshid, Supreme Court lawyer Shahdeen Malik, Subrata Chowdhury, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Dhaka University's professor Asif Nazrul, Jahangirnagar University professors Mirza Taslima Sultana and Nasreen Khandkar, Chittagong University professor Maidul Islam,  Naser Bakhtear, researchers Veena D'Costa, Saydia Gulrukh, Hana Sams Ahmed,  and Rozina Begum.