Wed 15 Mar 2006
Just another ordinary day. Three months pregnant Shanta goes to pick her son up from school in Dhanmondi.
“I am diabetic and as per doctors’ advice I walk up to five kilometres a day. On the day, as usual I put on my trainers and took my son Momin to his Dhanmondi Boys’ School just opposite Road 27 and decided to walk back home when I saw, for the first time in my life, the water cannons,” she said.
When suddenly clashes between the police and the pickets erupted there, Shanta took shelter in the nearby hospital. A group of policemen and policewomen entered the hospital, grabbed her by the hair, dragged her out on the street and unleashed their violent anger on her. As senior police officers watched and a host of media men recorded the incident, a group of policemen and policewomen encircled her and beat her mercilessly. They dragged her onto a nearby prison van and beat her inside.
I hope Shanta follows through with her lawsuit in spite of all the obstacles.
The accused are DC (South) Mazharul Huq, DC (West) Kohinur Miah, Constable Ruhul Amin and 25 other unknown policemen.
After reading these names, suddenly the name Kohinur Miah rang a bell. I did a bit of looking up in Google. and indeed its the same Kohinur mia who beat up journalist Saleem Samad mercilessly while he was in prison.
“I was physically tortured by one particular police official repeatedly,” Saleem said, naming Kohinoor Mia, Additional Deputy Commissioner (Detective Branch) of Police.
In fact, there is a lettter in Daily Star about it.
The fact that Kohinoor Mia, the infamous police officer in charge for the Shamsunnahar hall fiasco, was in charge of interrogating Prsicilla speaks a volume about how much thinking they are putting in the handling of these cases. Not unexpectedly this interrogation raised allegations of abuse and electric shock torture.
This begs the question, what was this fiasco at Shamsunnahar hall that the writer is talking about.
Amnesty mentioned this incident in the hall on their annual report in 2002 under the section “violence against women”.
On 24 July[2002], police raided Shamsunnahar hall of residence at Dhaka University and subjected dozens of female students to brutal beatings. More than 50 students were reportedly injured. Following widespread condemnation of the action, the authorities ordered a judicial inquiry. The inquiry confirmed police brutality and recommended punishment of the perpetrators. The report was not made public and by the end of the year no action had apparently been taken against the police involved in the attack.
So who was the police officer involved in this attack?
Take a look at this news of who got sued for this once before
A University of Dhaka teacher, Sheikh Mizanur Rahman on August 13 filed a petition case with the CMM court accusing seven police officials of their alleged involvement in assaulting some teachers and students of the university in front of the Rokeya Hall on July 29. The Law Department lecturer submitted the petition accusing Kohinoor Miah, former additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of the Detective Branch, Ali Akbar, ADC South, Lutfar Rahman, former officer-in-charge of the Ramna police, Mohammad Shahadat Hosssain, sub-inspector of the Ramna police, Ramna police constable Mosharraf Hossain and constable Shafiqul Islam of the Riot Control Division.
Here is a picture
As you can see from the report, when Kohinur mia beat up the females students of Shamsunnahar hall, he was an additional deputy commissioner (ADC). After a judicial report established that police excess was done, has anything happened to him?
Yes indeed! He has been promoted to be the DC of Dhaka West. Yesterday, he was sued again by Shanta, the housewife, for inciting violence on her mercilessly.
I think he is up for a promotion again this year. What do you think?
Update: Kohinoor’s saga continues: First beating of Nasim and now the launching of truck among the processionists.
March 15th, 2006 at 3:26 pm
The sad fact (for those of us who live/have lived in Bangladesh) is that this is a familiar occurrence. All too often the police think of themselves as being above the law and not accountable to anyone! With the increasing use of audio/visual equipments (such as camcorders) in Bangladesh, maybe more of these unfortunate incidents will be recorded and brought to the attention of the relevant authorities. The key question remains - Will justice be served?
March 15th, 2006 at 3:37 pm
Here is an org that does similar things. http://www.witness.org/
Might be an useful thing to explore with DP. I did raise it with Shahidul bhai of Drik. He was a bit lukewarm.
March 15th, 2006 at 4:13 pm
I think it is worth looking into. The question is who is going to do it. May be our role is to a depository of such pictures. Since we are outside the country we or a similar org (Bangla or Foreign) can host it. However, question will arise inevitably from the Govt in power that the pictures are not credible. But I dont think that should be amajor problem that cannot be worked.
March 15th, 2006 at 4:54 pm
Question is, who are the ones who will take the pictures? follow-up on stories? take direct accountability for them (which will invariably incite reaction from the authorities)?
For those of us here, it is ironically a safer ground than for those who are in Bangladesh where they are directly accessible for retribution. I do think that collaborating with another organization (much like witness, drik) is a more feasible option, at least as a short-term start.
March 15th, 2006 at 5:17 pm
I’ve known of Drik’s existence for the last 6 years, I think they are more interested in reporting and highlighting events rather than getting involved in the events. I might be wrong, but that’s the impression I’ve got.
The price of any policed state is that you can be beaten up by the same person who is meant to protect you.
We need to send a clear and specific message to the government of Bangladesh, namely, if the government and the law enforcers don’t do anything about people like Mr. Kohinur Miah, then, we will be obliged to stop our investments in Bangladesh.
March 15th, 2006 at 6:30 pm
I am a little scared to post this comment. Last time while discussing about the Shamsunnahar Hall incident, I came under intense attack for raising these points.
Police is probably the worst thing Bangladesh is now cursed with. Most of them are cruel, inhuman, dishonest, heartless.
Since independence, hundreds of innocent were tortured to death by police. Police raped 4 year old girl in a courthouse. Police raped and killed 14 years old Yasmin who went to police for shelter after fleeing from the torture at the household she was serving as maid servant.
Police killed totally innocent Rubel by hitting his head repeatedly on the wall in front of his home. IN this way police wrongfully killed many many other. For no plausible reason.
Not a single male dorm in Bangladesh has escaped police atrocity during Ershad regime. I still bear marks in my body incurred during police raid in my dorm during the last days or Ershad. Throughout democracy, police never missed any chance to beat up students with utmost cruelity.
However, what surprises me is that, we only wake up when police attack a DU female dorm or a urban high middle class female of Dhaka fractures her hand in police atrocities. As if it’s OK to attack/torture a male dorm, or killing a male does not touch us as much as it does when a female dorm it attacked or someone gets minor injury.
This reminds me of the ” Missing white Women Syndrome” that USA is suffering from.
We protest police raid not because the victim is an urbal upper class women, or a female DU dorm.
We protest because it is illegal, cruel, dishonest and partisan. We protest because it is not in sync with our current civilization.
March 15th, 2006 at 7:01 pm
Speaking of Police, after restoration of democracy, police force was turned into hooligan being used for petty political dirty works.
Day by day this partisan hooliganism is worsening.
Kohinoor Miah, and the OC of Ramna thana are the worst example of this hooliganism.
Reminds me of the movie “LA Confedential”.
March 16th, 2006 at 9:43 am
I am truely sorry to hear about your ordeal Rumi.
March 16th, 2006 at 10:47 am
i completely resonate with your thinking rumi….from ershad’s regime to bnp to AL to bnp, police atrocities are just horrendous across the board….and it is very true that male abuse (i know first-hand with my uncles being the recipient of a number of infamous ‘polics-acts’) gets shamefully negligible attention….yup, pervasive hypocrisy….
March 16th, 2006 at 1:39 pm
Which area is Dhaka west?
Maybe Daily Star can do a page on this famous man.
We’d love to know who this stud is and then feed him to the dogs.
March 17th, 2006 at 5:21 am
This is an update from Saleem Samad:
The rogue police officer also abused and deliberately disrespected Dr Muntasir Mamoon himself.
This statement has been published in different Bangla newspapers. I am not sure whether anything has been published in English press.
Kohinoor Miah has been barred to enter United States. He has been officially refused visa for torturing TIME magazine correspondent and attacks on women’s students dorms as mentioned in Amnesty International reports.
The rogue element has also been blacklisted by European Union. Therefore it would be very difficult for him travel to any of his dreamland anytime, until he serves punishment for his deeds.
I am contemplating to file a law suit against him for crime against humanity.
RSF’s Bangladesh 27 December 2002 report “Two British TV journalists freed but two local colleagues stay in prison and two others are arrested” where Kohinoor Miah’s name has been mentioned as torturer. RSF link:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=4428
Combat Communalism link:
http://www.sabrang.com/cc/archive/2003/feb03/nebors.html
IFEX link: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/18116/
NOTE: Kohinoor Miah detained journalist Arobindo Paul for taking pictures of election centre on May 10, 2004, RSF link:
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=10362
IFJ report: http://www.ifj-asia.org/files/ifj_sa_press_freedom_report.pdf
March 17th, 2006 at 10:45 am
I propose we launch a “bloggers investigation” to find the background of this man. Who is he and where does he get so much power to do this? It’s probably a pandora’s box but we need to open it.
I am going start my fact finding mission from some people I know in the police dept.
March 17th, 2006 at 12:31 pm
Great! As a first step though, let your readers know by linking to this entry and asking if anyone has more info on him. I ask other bloggers to do the same. Any info on this guy would help. If any reporter is reading, this is your ideal opportunity to have a story on this.
March 17th, 2006 at 2:56 pm
Just curious to know the historical pattern of the fate of these partisan police officers?
During the first BNP government some police officers were responsible for unprovoked attack on jounalists meeting and beating up dozens of journalists in Pressclub or killing the farmer’s in north bengal who were demanding fertilizer. What happened to them during the proceeding Awami League rule?
Similarly what BNP did with the officers who did all the atrocities during the AL rule? Those atrocities include mercilessly beating BNP leaders Sadeq Hossain Khoka, Abdul motin chowdhury or rounding up the whole Chhatra dal, force them to undress and keep sitting in the open Ramna field facing the scorching sun. Or where is the police OC now who simply became another armed cadre of Chhatra league and helped Chhatra league capture all the dorms in Dhaka university?
We can log all the notorious acts of police starting 1990 and put a web information portal to track where they are now.
OC Rafiq of Ramna thana, the notorious BNP cadre, is finally introuble for murdering someone.