Civil society members have condemned and protested an attack on a photography exhibition on extrajudicial killings organised by Drik Gallery on September 4.

In a statement issued on Sunday, sixty members of civil society also alleged that there was an ill attempt to foil the peaceful event held at the Dhaka University campus on September 4.

“The entire protest programme against crossfire was being streamed live on Facebook. We clearly saw that more than 100 activists of the ruling party led by councillor of 26 no. ward of Dhaka South City Corporation Hasibur Rahman Manik stormed into the programme,” read the statement.

At that time, Manik told the protesters that the trial of 21 August grenade attack case has to be carried out first and the trial of other cases should not be done till then, it added.

“The ruling party men then started pushing around the rights activists, snatched photos of the exhibit, and tried to seize their mobile phones and stood in front of the Drik’s banner wielding their own placards,” it said.

The civil society members also questioned the role of police, claiming they played the role of silent spectators during the whole incident.

They asked, “In the context of this whole incident, we want to ask the government whether it favours extrajudicial killings and is against peaceful protest and cultural expressions recognised by the constitution.”

“Are the stances of the government and other government employees regarding extrajudicial killings similiar to Manik? We want to know,”