Take action against those involved in 2001 post-polls violence: HC

 

The High Court on Thursday directed the government to take action against those who were involved in the 2001 post-polls violence.

 

The court asked the Home Secretary, the Inspector General of Police and other respondents to implement the directive and submit a progress report in this regard by May 11.

 

An HC bench comprising Justice Dr Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain came up with the order after the state submitted a report on the compliance of its earlier directives to publish a judicial inquiry commission on the 2001 post-polls violence through a gazette notification.

 

On March 10, the same bench asked the government to publish the report through a gazette notification.

 

Following a writ petition filed by the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB) in 2009, the High Court had asked the government to form a judicial inquiry commission to investigate torture on the minority communities, especially Hindus, and the opposition activists, and submit a report within six months.

 

Accordingly, the government had formed a commission which submitted its probe report to the Home Ministry after a year with some recommendations, including identifying the perpetrators and ways to end post-polls violence.

 

However, the government neither made the report public nor submitted it to the court.

 

In the wake of fresh spate of violence targeting the minorities after the 10th parliamentary elections held on January 5 this year, Advocate Manzill Murshid filed the petition on January 22, seeking HC directives on the government to make the probe report public.

 

On the day, the same HC bench directed the Home Secretary to submit before it by February 2 the probe report on the judicial inquiry commission on the 2001 post-polls violence.

 

The court had also issued a rule upon the government to explain in two weeks as to why the probe report should not be made public.

Source: UNB Connect