‘My conscience brought me here today’

Former state minister for home Tanjim Ahmad Sohel Taj was not allowed to meet the six coordinators of the quota reform protests when he went to visit them in the DB custody yesterday.

He visited the DB office in the capital's Minto Road around 5:00pm and stayed there for around one and a half hours.

Talking to the media afterwards, he said he asked DB chief Harun Or Rashid why these coordinators were brought here, whether they were arrested, and when they would be released.

However, Harun did not give a satisfactory answer, he said.

Sohel Taj said he had three questions for the DB chief.

"My first question was: are they arrested or taken into safe custody? The second question was: if they have been arrested, I have nothing to say. But if they have been taken into safe custody, I want to meet them," he said.

And his third question was: when will they be released from safe custody?

The DB chief replied that they will be released once he gets order from the high-ups.

Explaining his reason for coming to the DB office, Sohel Taj said there was unrest in the country centring the quota protests. Over a hundred people, including children, students and general people, have been killed, he said.

"My conscience brought me here." 

"I believe there is a need for resolution. To achieve that we have to probe each and every death through independent inquiries. Those responsible must be brought to justice. There can be no extrajudicial killings. This has to be solved politically and through discussion will all the stakeholders."

About the violence, he said the damages to properties can be restored  but "can we ever get back the lives that have been lost?"

"Each life is worth more than crores. They're priceless."

He also called upon the authorities to refrain from arresting students.

"I also have a message for students... this is your country, you have to build it... it is your responsibility... do not lose hope. Better days will come," he said.

Urging patience, he asked students to stay on the path of truth and keep raising their voices against injustice.