Dhaka: The High Court on Thursday issued a rule asking the government to explain why an order will not be given for forming a taskforce to monitor the incidents of human rights violation by members of law enforcers.

An HC bench comprising Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Ijarul Haq Akanda issued the rule upon hearing on a writ petition filed by Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA) executive director Salma Ali.

The court asked the Home Secretary, the Inspector General of Police, the DMP Commissioner and two others to respond to the rule within four weeks.

The writ was filed over the police action on some Bangladesh Students Union activists during their protest against sexual assaults on some women on the Dhaka University campus on Pahela Baishakh.

National Human Rights Commission member advocate Fauzia Karim Firoz stood for the petitioner while deputy attorney general Amatun Karim Swapna represented the state.

On Sunday, about a hundred activists of BSU came under police attack near Officers’ Club on Shaheed Captain Mansur Ali Sarani as they tried to lay a siege to the DMP headquarters in protest against sexual harassments of women on the Dhaka University campus on April 14.

They were beaten up with truncheons, helmets and rifle butts while some, including female protesters, were kicked and knocked to the ground, according to media report.