Eminent citizens of the country have formed a commission to investigate allegations of gross violations of laws and human rights in the recent violence, including the loss of lives and mass arrests, over the quota reform protests.

The nine-member body, Mass Inquiry Commission, will be headed by Justice Md Abdul Matin and Sultana Kamal, according to a press release.

It said the commission has been formed with eminent personalities of Bangladesh on behalf of the country's teachers, lawyers, cultural activists, and general guardians, and urged people to send it information which would help it to unearth the truth behind the violent incidents.

According to the press release, the violence started on July 16 when students of the Dhaka University area were attacked and assaulted to suppress their anti-discrimination protests.

"Abu Sayeed was shot directly in the chest in Rangpur as students and common people across the country took to the streets to protest the violence [attacks on students at universities]. Moreover, in cases filed by police, general students and public have been made responsible for the violence. This has raised questions in ordinary citizens about the entire investigation process. There is a demand to unveil the truth behind these incidents. Though newspapers reported at least 209 deaths in the violence, the official count is 147," the release reads.

Attempts have been made to control the students involved in the protests through various violent means, including torture, shootings, and mass arrests. There have been allegations of gross violations of the constitution, customary law, and human rights, it adds.

Therefore, uncovering the causes of these incidents, fair investigation and trial have become a necessity, it said.

The commission members are former justice of the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court Md Abdul Matin, lawyer Sultana Kamal, senior lawyer ZI Khan Panna, senior journalist Abu Sayeed Khan, Prof Gitiara Nasrin, senior journalist Ashraf Kaiser, lawyer Anik R Haque, Prof Tanzimuddin Khan, and writer and researcher Maha Mirza.

Lawyer Tobarak Hossain, lawyer Sara Hossain, lawyer and teacher Shahdeen Malik, writer and educationist Prof Salimullah Khan, teacher Kazi Mahfuzul Haque Supan, lawyer Rashna Imam, lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua, and teacher Saimum Reza Talukder will serve as advisors to the commission.

The commission has urged people to send all information about various violent acts -- torture, killings, shootings, threats, cases, and human rights violations -- related to the students' protest since July 1 to it soon.

Any kind of information, including audio, video, photographs, and text can be sent, said the press release signed by Prof Tanzimuddin Khan and Maha Mirza, member secretaries of the commission.