[Even as the massive Long March in Dhaka’s Shahbagh is going on, reportedly with lakhs and lakhs of people demanding Sheikh Hasina’s resignation, rumours of her having already resigned are coming in. The statement is of course in support of Bangladesh’s struggle for democracy and against the brutal repression unleashed by her Awami League regime.]

We, the undersigned citizens of India, writers, artists, intellectuals and activists, express our deep concern over the recent developments in Bangladesh. As fellow South Asians, we share a common destiny and the destruction of democracy in any part of it is obviously a matter of concern for all of us. The current government that has unleashed massive violence on its own citizens has brazenly hijacked the elections three consecutive times in the last ten years.

The world has been watching in horror the violent crackdown on protesting students and youth in Bangladesh since mid-July. On 15th July, a peaceful protest by students of Dhaka University demanding reform in the quota system was violently attacked by a group of goons said to be from the student wing of the ruling party. The crackdown followed statements by the Awami League general secretary and an important minister that the Chhatra League would teach a lesson to the students, whom the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina had earlier labelled ‘razakars’ – a term used for the collaborators with the Pakistan army during the 1971 Liberation Struggle. Expectedly, the Bangladesh Police, rather than acting against the attackers, started a full-scale crackdown on protesters all across the country from the next day. On 16th July, the police killed Abu Saeed, a student of Begum Rokeya University, as he stood with open arms, without any weapon, in front of the approaching police forces who aimed their guns at the protesters. The murder of Abu Saeed, who posed no threat to the approaching police forces, manifests how the intention behind the crackdown on protesters was not to maintain law and order but to forcefully silence voices of dissent arising from all across Bangladesh.

Since then, what followed in Bangladesh will be documented in history as one of the worst state attacks on its citizens. As the police intensified their attack, the number of deaths continued to increase. While official reports as of 1 August had put the number of people killed at 209, reports by International Agencies suggest a figure of over 1000, with thousands more injured in a span of 10 days. Among the injured, in Dhaka alone, 500 are reported to have been wounded with pellets in their eyes. What has been most shocking is that shooting from helicopters and snipers from high-rise buildings have been reported, where children playing on the terrace or inside their homes were killed.
On 2 August, as the movement returned with even greater strength and people from all walks of life students joined in, firings and further killings have been reported from different parts of the country. The Internet was completely shut down for a week, cutting off news from Bangladesh to the rest of the world. However, this standard tactic of dictatorial regimes has not worked in containing the movement which is now demanding the resignation of the illegitimate government and fresh elections under the supervision of a caretaker government.

Along with a violent crackdown on protesters using lethal and non-lethal weapons that unfolded into one of the worst humanitarian tragedies, the Bangladesh government has also unleashed a reign of terror through arbitrary arrests and framing of cases against protesters. Media reports tell us more than 2,000 people have been arrested and more than 61,000 people have been named as accused in cases.
Bangladesh achieved its liberation in 1971 after millions sacrificed their lives for freedom of the country. We, as citizens of a neighbouring country, have been deeply sympathetic to Bangladesh’s liberation struggle. The citizens of a country that achieved its liberation through such massive sacrifices of lives, have not forgotten the spirit of that struggle. Today, the citizens of Bangladesh want to hold its government accountable for destroying the dream of the liberation struggle. The aspiration of a democratic government, free and fair election, freedom of speech and protest and a promise of a dignified future for the country’s youth is an aspiration for a modern democratic state.

We, members of civil society of India, extend our voice of support to that aspiration of the citizens of Bangladesh. In the interim, the citizens are demanding justice for the victims of the ‘July’ massacre (and later killings), action against responsible police officers, release of all protesters and quashing of criminal cases against protesters. We join our voices with the democratic forces in Bangladesh in demanding a restoration of democracy. We extend our support to their struggle for a fundamental change in the mode of governance in Bangladesh.

Aditya Nigam, Independent Academic

Tanika Sarkar, Historian

Atul Sood, Professor, JNU

Rohan D’Souza, Faculty, Kyoto University

Pamela Philipose, Journalist

Nivedita Menon, Professor, JNU

Bishnupriya Dutt, Professor, JNU

Nandini Sundar, Sociologist

Dhananjay, President, JNUSU

Naveen Gaur, Faculty, DU

Zoya Hasan, Former Professor, JNU

Sucheta De, CPIML

G Arunima, Faculty, JNU

Prof Surajit C Mukhopadhyay, Dean, Sister Nivedita University

Arundhati Ghosh, Independent Cultural Practitioner

Shuddhabrata Sengupta, Artist and Writer

Anuradha Chenoy, Former Professor, JNU

J Devika, Feminist Scholar

Ayesha Kidwai, Professor, JNU

Kuntal Ghosh, Associate Professor, ISI

Mary E John, Feminist Scholar

Navsharan SIngh, Activist

Suvankar Chakraborty, Senior Journalist

Anupam Roy, Artist

Laxmi Murthy, Journalist

Satakshi Nandy, Actor

Mohan Rao, Former Professor, JNU

Ravi Sundaram, CSDS, Delhi

Aamir Aziz, Poet

Kavita Srivastava, PUCL

Sandip K. Luis, Art Historian

Sanjeeb Mukherjee, Former Faculty, Calcutta University

Surojit Sen, Writer

Rupleena Bose, Writer

Bishwendu Nanda, Baniya Paramaribo Karu o Bastra Shilpa Sangha

Gaurab Chatterjee, Musician

P. Rohini Rajasekaran, Writer/Artist

Vasudha Thozhur, Artist

Chayanika Shah, Hasrat-e-Zindagi Mamuli, Mumbai

Pradip Datta, Retired Professor

Veda Thozhur Kolleri, Artist

Rupsha Guha, Artist

Suvonkar Banerjee, Senior Editor, DIsney+Hotstar

Anirban Ghoshal, Screen Writer/Film Maker

Sruthi Viswan, Artist

Debmalya Banerjee, Visual Artist

Debapriya Bhatta, Voxxy Media

Inder Salim, Artist

Shapath Das, Art House Film Foundation

Kirity Roy, Banglar Manabadhikar Suraksha Mancha

Satarupa Das, Director, Zindabad Studio

Monalisa Mukherji, Film Maker

Dr. Frazer Mascarenhas, Former Faculty, St. Xavier’s College

Raktim Ghosh, Adhikar Bangla

Shweta Bajaj, Journalist and Documentary Film Maker

Arindam, Arindam Nandy Production

Shal J, Artist

Chhatrapal Ninawe, CImagination

Sidharth Srinivasan, Independent Film Maker

Angana, Actor

Vidya Dinker, President/ INSAF

Nandini Bhattacharyya Panda, Indian Council of Historical Research

Barali, CPB

Nayanika Mookherjee, Durham University, UK

Q   Oddjoint

Shubham KC	Patha Bhavan School Alumni
Sreemanti Sengupta	Freelancer
Bodhisattwa Ghosh	Artiste
Sambaran Das	Artist
Sreyashi Choudhury	Student at Renmin University of China
Haritha	Self employed
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Roopesh shaji	Freelance Cinematographer
B Ajay	Self
Sarthak Bhatia	JNU
snigdha adil	student
Shiraz	PUCL
Rajshree Chandra	Delhi University
Sourish Ghosh	Researcher
Romit	Oddjoint/Film Technocian
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Ammu Abraham	Forum against oppression of women, PUCL Maharashtra
Anita Dube	Artist
Ravi Balla	CRPP
Nanjappan Radhakrishnan	Advocate
Indira Rani	Freelance Development Consultant
Dipan Mahapatra	Graphic Designer
Fahd Kabir	FK studios
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Cynthia Stephen	Independent journalist and policy researcher
S Datta	Teacher
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Dr. Arnab Saha	Professor, Writer.
Anushka Dutta	student
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Partha Bose	Friends of Democracy
Krttika B Dutta	Student
Moubani Pal	Student, Jadavpur University
বিশ্বেন্দু নন্দ	জ্ঞানগঞ্জ, বঙ্গীয় পারম্পরিক কারু ও বস্ত্র শিল্পী সংঘ
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Dripta Sarangi	Researcher
SWAGATAM KAR	Salaried Person.
Saumyarit chowdhury	Self.
Karnabati Das Mahapatra	DSF (Arts)
Paromita Dutta	USAF
Mrinmoy Das	HUMAN Network INDIA
Supriya Banerjee	Essayist, activist
Shiyas K.R	Advocate
Srijan Biswas	Filmmaker
Prasanta Basak	Right To Food work and campaign network
Anamika Mondal	Student
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Sadhana Biswas	UKIBC
তীর্থরাজ ত্রিবেদী	জ্ঞানগঞ্জ
Somenath Guha	Saros
Pratyush Chatterjee	Student
Nandita Narain	Associate Professor (Retd), St.Stephen’s College, Delhi University
Rajdeep Mazumder	Hr
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Mahasweta Samajdar	Editor of Magazines
Pratyay Banerjee	PRASONGIK
Amit Bhattacharyya	Retired Professor, Department of History, Jadavpur University, Kolkata
Sujato Bhadra	Human Rights activist
Prajnaparamita Dutta Raychaudhuri	Manushir Boi Ghar, secretary
Souvik Bose	Student
Sumeet	Artist
Mallar Moitra	Pashchimbanga Ganasanskriti Parishad
Avijit Pal	Self
Sudipta Mullick	senior citizen of India
Sharad Lele	Researcher
Purna	Social worker
Arijit Gayen	Software Engineer
দেবজ্যোতি মিত্র	অধ্যাপক
Sourav Maji	Software engineer
Sudipto Dey	Student
Prof.	Former professor , JNU.
Soumitra Bose	Cpiml liberstion
Kausik	NA
Dr. Rounak Biswas	Dr.
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barnali mukherjee	CPB
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kavya gupta	graduate from DU.
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Sitansu Ranjan De	Journalist
Ditsa Bose	Student
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Rahul Varman	Academic
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Rina Mitra Ghosh	Self-employed
	JNU
Navsharan Singh	Academic and political activist
Debaleena Saha	Student
Debaleena Saha	Student
Piyali Chatterjee	Individual
Abhishek Roy	Independent
Rajesh Ramakrishnan	Independent researcher
Santanu Bhattacharya	Cultural Activist
Hardip	Self
DR SANTANU GHOSH	Individual
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Jayati Mukherjee	Research Assistant
I’m all for democracy. Doesn’t matter at what cost.	Creative Director
Manali Chakrabarti	Independent Researcher
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SUMAN BASU	College Teacher
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