I did not do anything wrong: Kishore

When I entered the hospital room, the bed was empty. Cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore Kishore had gone to get his eyes checked. When he returned to the cabin in about 20 minutes, I was flabbergasted that he was on a wheelchair.

I stared at him, at a loss for words, he too stared back. Kishore broke the silence: "How are you bhai [brother]?"' He went to the bed and lay down. A strong man drained in just 10 months.

I talked to Kishore shortly after he was released from jail on March 4. "Bhai, I am Kishore…" His voice seemed unfamiliar. He said after meeting his lawyer he would go straight to a hospital. He was not in a condition to go home.

I did not realise how grim his condition was. When I saw him in person on the evening of March 6, the realisation set in -- even walking and moving was painful for Kishore.

Every footfall hurts, his knees ache, there's pain in his hands, neck and back. These are the results of planned torture. Even though the pain has dulled, he is still deeply worried about his ear. I told him, he must shave his beard and stand tall again. He must get well soon and start working. He must draw cartoons and sketches again.

He gazed intensely as he listened and then murmured, "Life… I had drawn many sketches of Mushtaq Bhai while in prison..."

His face mask gets damp, as the tears free-flow. Writer Mushtaq Ahmed is all over Kishore's broken mind.

Even his smiles are fleeting -- his eyes are downcast and pensive. The trauma of mental and physical torture does not leave him.

"Many people in the jail were surprised and said, 'You are an artist, yet you have been made the number one accused. Brother you are the victim of a conspiracy'," said Kishore.

"I did nothing. I did not do anything wrong, or commit a crime. They showed me completely unrelated cartoons and asked me if I mocked the prime minister and the father of the nation," Kishore told me.

"No matter how many times I told them that I did not draw any cartoon about the prime minister or the father of the nation, they told me I was lying. There was no food, no sleep. I can't stay without food for long because I have diabetes. Again and again they asked the same question.

"I could not control my temper. When they addressed me in 'tui', I also started calling them 'tui'. I challenged them. What are these questions? I told them I could teach them about cartoons. In response, they beat me up and abused me using filthy words. I responded with similar language," Kishore said in one breath.

Kishore was looking for a scholarship to study cartoons. He made progress, but Covid-19 stopped everything. Kishore did not have a job. He asked around for gigs. He drew a sketch for Mushtaq's book and got Tk 10,000.

"Why did Mushtaq give you money?" they asked Kishore before beating him up. All of these happened to Kishore within the first 60 hours of his detention.

The house in Kakrail, from where Kishore was picked up, is owned by his friend who lives in Australia. Kishore was in charge of taking care of the house.

"Is anyone in your family involved in the Awami League?" they asked him. "Yes," he replied, "My father, my sister."

Then came the worst of the torture. They slammed his head from both sides with their hands. Kishore later learned, that this is a common and monstrous tactic of torture. This is done mainly to perforate the eardrum.

Kishore's world was turned upside-down. A throbbing buzzing took over his hearing. He could neither see, nor hear. When he regained consciousness, he found blood coming out of his right ear. "The shirt was stained with the blood from my ear," Kishore told me, staring blankly.

Kishore did not clearly articulate the pain or suffering he had undergone, but the floodgates opened when it came to describing the torture Mushtaq had suffered.

"Mushtaq bhai asked me not to tell anyone that he had been tortured with electrocution," said Kishore as he wept. "Don't let your sister-in-law or my parents know. Mushtaq bhai told me this over and over again."

He did not want to let his 89-year-old father and 81-year-old mother know.

A weeping Kishore said, "While we were in prison, Mushtaq Bhai collapsed thrice. A good man like Mushtaq Bhai was electrocuted, he soiled his clothes… Mushtaq Bhai was very fit. But electrocution..." Kishore could not finish his sentences.

"Mushtaq Bhai and I were taken on foot to a microbus. He could not walk properly. I could not walk either. From the place of torture, we were taken to Khilgaon office of Rab. We were shoved into the microbus, and shoved out again. They kept shoving us around so we walked normally into the Rab office. Almost like a rehearsal for filming. My ears were still bleeding and soaking my shirt. Someone said, 'He is still bleeding.' Another offered water and then poured water on my ear and body to clean the blood. From the Khilgaon Rab office, we were taken to the Tikatuli Rab office where they shot a video. Then we were handed to Ramna Police Station. What our condition was like at the time will be known if those videos are released."

Kishore's diabetes is under control to some extent. The severity of his leg injuries is also reducing. But his ears continue to worry him. He no longer has the perfect eyesight. Pus oozing from Kishore's ears has stopped after two days of care, but he still cannot hear through his right ear.

A test of Kishore's ears will be done today. The test will provide a clearer assessment of the damage done, and the next course of treatment will be decided based on the test report. Doctors will decide whether he needs surgery and get an idea of how much they will be able to fix.

"I got a six-month bail, but I am not free. I can't stand by the road and have a cup of tea. I can't walk. I had not committed an offence. An unjust crime has been done against me and Mushtaq Bhai," Kishore said. "My case will continue, and I will have to deal with the case in this situation. But nothing will happen to those who took us and tortured us in an unknown place. The case is supposed to be filed against them... They asked several times why I drew a cartoon about a certain businessman, and tortured me."

Lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua said, "The entire process of arresting Kishore and prosecuting him under the Digital Security Act was done illegally. The same thing happened in the case of Kajol and Shahidul Alam. A law was passed in 2013 to stop torture in custody."

It is legally possible to file a case against the perpetrators, he added.

"No law enforcement officer in plain clothes can arrest anyone, according to directions given by the Appellate Division in 2015. How are you still arresting a citizen while not being in uniform? Article 111 of the constitution states that the judgment of the High Court is the law," said the Supreme Court lawyer.

Kishore wants to believe that the Digital Security Act will be repealed and withdrawn.