At the time of writing this editorial, there is still no sign of Tarek Rahman, a quota reform leader who has been missing since Saturday. What is so deeply worrying is that Tarek's mother has still not been able to file a general diary due to the alleged non-cooperation of the two police stations—Motijheel and Shahbagh—which gave excuses of a "lack of jurisdiction" and the requirement of "verifying" the complaint first.

These developments are disturbing to say the least, simply because of the contradictory statements issued by the said police stations when contacted by this newspaper. The OC of Shahbagh police station was not even aware of the matter and the OC of Motijheel police station denied outright that Tarek's family members had ever visited the station. These statements are hardly plausible.

Several quota reform leaders had similarly gone "missing" only to be found under police custody a few days later. And given the crackdown on quota reform activists by law enforcing agencies, Tarek's case merits special attention and cannot be swept under the rug by using flimsy excuses.

The law mandates the police to investigate the case and allow the family members to file a GD wherever appropriate. Access to justice and equal protection of the law are every citizen's constitutional right. That Tarek's mother has still not been able to file a GD due to various pretexts put forth by the police stations is a violation of this fundamental right. The DMP has now said that they are looking into Tarek's case and they should extend full cooperation to his family to ensure justice for him and his family.