Acting Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Maulana ATM Masum has issued a statement on 25th July, 2024 calling for an end to mass arrests, lodging false cases and ongoing propaganda and ill-campaigns.

In the statement, he said, "The government is creating a dire situation by carrying out mass arrests of the citizens across the country on false charges. Starting from the Prime Minister herself, the ministers are threatening not to exempt anyone this time. Government cannot avoid the liability of mass killings by continuing intimidation and detention. The government has conducted mass killings in a planned way and now they are talking irresponsibly.

Acting Secretary General also said that the people of Bangladesh and the people from all over the world know that, following the Prime Minister's address in the press meet at Ganobhaban and the subsequent provocative remark of the Minister of Bridges in which he said that 'Chhatra League is enough to tackle the general students and simultaneously Liberation War Minister's boastful announcement that 'we will fight one more time', all front organizations of ruling Awami League including Chhatra League, Jubo League, Awami League and the law enforcers began the massacres. Several hundreds of people were killed in just two to three days. Many people have gone missing. The people of Bangladesh are unitedly protesting against this genocide. People from all walks of life including artists, actors, composers, columnists, writers, intellectuals have taken their stance against the genocide. The government has arrested and imprisoned thousands of people in the name of combing operation. But by such mean they could not subside the anger of the people.

The government is sending thousands of people to prisons in connection with false cases and consequently blocked their access to legal aid. On 24th July, police have arrested former vice-president of the Dhaka Bar, Advocate SM Kamal Uddin, and the former member of the Dhaka Bar, Advocate Azmat Hossain. The government is arresting lawyers in a bid to create obstacles for the litigants to get justice. We strongly condemn and protest these inhumane and undemocratic actions of the government. We demand immediate release of Advocate SM Kamal Uddin and Advocate Azmat Hossain.

The coordinators of the ongoing student’s quota movement called for their demands to be accepted through a press conference. They also gave details of the torture on them and asked to ensure security. The government is now terrorizing and frightening the coordinators in various ways by carrying out mass killings in the name of suppressing their peaceful movement. Fear will not solve the problem. We are drawing the attention of the concerned authorities to accept all their logical demands by holding dialogues with the protesting students.

He also said that the government's repeated warnings of mass arrest and prosecution are nothing but exposure of their arrogance and stubbornness. I want to tell the government that the country is not yours alone. The people of this country have taken stand against you. You have chosen the path of torture by using state power. The consequences will be boomerang for you. To the members of the law enforcers of the state, we are requesting please do not harass the people. Rather, as the servants of the Republic, perform state duties professionally.

We appeal to the concerned authorities to stop oppression, mass arrests and propaganda and ill-campaigns and also to accept all the logical demands of the agitating students and restore the peaceful situation in the country.”