Jyotirmoy Barua is a Bangladeshi lawyer and human rights activist.

Early life

Barua was born on 16 September 1976 in

Cox's Bazar District Cox's Bazar District () is a district in the Chittagong Division of Bangladesh. It is named after Cox's Bazar town. It is located south of Chittagong. Cox's Bazar is also known by the names ''Panowa'' ("yellow flower") and ''Palongkee''. T ...

, Bangladesh. He has two bachelors in law, one from the

University of Calcutta The University of Calcutta, informally known as Calcutta University (), is a Public university, public State university (India), state university located in Kolkata, Calcutta (Kolkata), West Bengal, India. It has 151 affiliated undergraduate c ...

and another from the

Northumbria University Northumbria University (legally the University of Northumbria at Newcastle) is a Public research university, public research university located in Newcastle upon Tyne, North East England, North East of England. It has been a university since 199 ...

Career

Barua is a member of the Dhaka Bar Association, Cox’s Bazar Bar Association, and South Asians for Human Rights. He is a legal advisor of the

Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust The Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust () is one of the largest legal aid organization in Bangladesh. The trust provides legal aid, a mediation center, legal advocacy, and files public interest legislation. The organization's headquarter is ...

. He filed a petition with the High Court Division questioning the lack of action by police during the

2012 Ramu violence The 2012 Ramu violence refers to a series of attacks on Buddhist monasteries, shrines, and houses of Buddhist inhabitants in Ramu Upazila in Cox's Bazar District in Bangladesh by local mobs on the midnight past 29 September 2012. The mobs destroye ...

. He represented Adhikari Shuvo and Rasel Parvez, bloggers who had been charged with hurting religious sentiments in 2013. Barua accused law enforcement agencies of killing people extra-judicially in anti-terrorism operations after the

2016 Dhaka attack Sixteen or 16 may refer to: *16 (number) *one of the years 16 BC, AD 16, 1916, 2016 Films * ''Pathinaaru'' or ''Sixteen'', a 2010 Tamil film * ''Sixteen'' (1943 film), a 1943 Argentine film directed by Carlos Hugo Christensen * ''Sixteen'' (20 ...

. He represented two journalists from Myanmar in 2017 who were detained working on a tourist visa. Barua and Tanim Hussain Shawon represented Rehnuma Ahmed in a petition to send her husband, photographer

Shahidul Alam Shahidul Alam (born 1955) is a Bangladeshi media institution builder, a photojournalist, public speaker, storyteller, writer, blogger, curator, and educationist. Alam founded Drik Picture Library in 1989, Pathshala in 1998, the Chobi Mela Inter ...

, who had been jailed for making comments critical of the government, to a hospital for medical treatment in August 2018. Barua wrote against

enforced disappearance An enforced disappearance (or forced disappearance) is the secret abduction or imprisonment of a person with the support or acquiescence of a State (polity), state followed by a refusal to acknowledge the person's fate or whereabouts with the i ...

in 2020 representing victim Shafiqul Islam Kajol. He signed a statement along with 42 activists calling on the president of Bangladesh to initiate investigations against the commissioners of the Bangladesh Election Commission over the 2020 Bangladesh Election Commission scandal. He called for the abolishment of the

Digital Security Act The Digital Security Act, 2018, was a digital security law in Bangladesh. This act was passed with the aim of preventing the spread of racism, sectarianism, extremism, terrorist propaganda, and hatred against religious or ethnic minorities throug ...

. He condemned Bangladesh Police questioning journalist

Zillur Rahman Mohammed Zillur Rahman (9 March 1929 – 20 March 2013) was a Bangladeshi politician who served as the President from 2009 until his death in 2013. He was also a senior presidium member of the Awami League. He is the third president of Banglade ...

. He represented writer Mushtaq Ahmed and cartoonist

Ahmed Kabir Kishore Ahmed Kabir Kishore (; born 30 May 1974) is a Bangladeshi cartoonist. He was accused of drawing cartoons and held in pre-trial detention in Bangladesh under the country's infamous Digital Security Act for 10 months since May 2, 2020. Cartoonists ...

. He represented Professor Morshed Hasan Khan of the University of Dhaka. Barua is a board member of ActionAid Bangladesh. In July 2024, he condemned the detention of student activists agitating for quota reforms in civil service recruitment by the

Detective Branch The Detective Branch (; abbreviated as DB) is a specialized unit of the Bangladesh Police. It mostly deals with investigative activities and special operations in sensitive cases and places. The main task of the detectives of this unit is to colle ...

. Following the increase of violence against women under the

Muhammad Yunus Muhammad Yunus (born 28 June 1940) is a Bangladeshi economist, entrepreneur, and civil society leader who has been serving as the Chief Adviser of Bangladesh, Chief Adviser of the Interim government of Muhammad Yunus, interim Yunus ministry, g ...

led

Interim government A provisional government, also called an interim government, an emergency government, a transitional government or provisional leadership, is a temporary government formed to manage a period of transition, often following state collapse, revolut ...

, Barua said, ''"Such incidents are increasing because the government is completely incapable of maintaining law and order"''. On mob lynching people. he said, "After the dictator (

Sheikh Hasina Sheikh Hasina (''née'' Wazed; born 28 September 1947) is a Bangladeshi politician who served as the tenth prime minister of Bangladesh from June 1996 to July 2001 and again from January 2009 to August 2024. Premiership of Sheikh Hasina, Her ...

) was deposed through an uprising, a group of people now believe that they can dispense justice as they want and the authorities would comply with whatever they say".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barua, Jyotirmoy Living people 1976 births Bangladeshi human rights activists Bangladeshi lawyers Bangladeshi activists Bangladeshi Buddhists People from Cox's Bazar District University of Calcutta alumni Alumni of Northumbria University