A Dhaka court on Monday rejected the bail applications of former ‘Slogan 71’ general secretary Sheikh Tasnim Afroze Emi and two others in an anti-terrorism case filed over playing Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman’s 7 March speech on a loudspeaker.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Didarul Alam passed the order after hearing the petitions. The other accused are Md Asif Ahmed Saikat, former employment affairs secretary of Shahidullah Hall unit Chhatra League, and Abdullah Al Mamun, former vice-secretary of Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall unit.
The case originated from events on 7 March, when two individuals-Asif Ahmed, a Dhaka University Physics student of the 2018–19 batch, and a microphone operator-were initially detained for playing the speech at Chankharpul, Dhaka.
In protest, Sheikh Tasnim Afroze Emi, a vice-presidential candidate from the ‘Pratirodh Parishad’, a panel of left-leaning groups in the Dhaka University Central Student Union (Ducsu) elections, along with several associates, staged a programme from a rickshaw to play the speech.
The situation escalated around 10pm when some participants’ microphones and batteries were broken, triggering a scuffle.
Ducsu and Jatiya Chhatra Shakti, the student wing of NCP, allegedly arrived at the scene, dragged Emi and Mamun toward Shahbagh police station, and handed them over to authorities after reportedly assaulting them.
Mamun had previously resigned from the Sergeant Zahurul Haque Hall Chhatra League committee following the July uprising.
On Sunday, Shahbagh police filed a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act, accusing the trio of raising provocative slogans through a loudspeaker facing a mosque and attempting to revive the banned student organisation with anti-government intent.
The case also alleges obstruction of police duties and attempts to free Asif Ahmed from custody.
According to the record, the detainees were handed over to the police under supervision from DU representatives AB Zubair and Musaddiq Ali Ibne Mohammad.
