Beaten by Rajshahi University Central Students Union (Rucsu) leaders and Islami Chhatra Shibir activists, two students have ended up behind bars under the Anti-Terrorism Act, while their attackers remain untouched.
The university authorities handed the injured students over to police, who showed them arrested in an anti-terrorism case without clearly mentioning what they were accused of doing.
Those jailed are Md Anas, a student of the Department of History from the 2017-18 academic session, and Mahmudul Hasan, a student of the Department of Sanskrit from the 2021-22 session.
The pair were assaulted by activists led by Rucsu General Secretary Salahuddin Ammar. Witnesses said Ammar was carrying a spade and threatened to bury Anas in the ground.
Despite the attack taking place publicly, the university has taken no immediate action against those involved.
Proctor Mahbubur Rahman said an investigation committee had been formed and action would be taken based on its findings.
He did not explain why an inquiry was needed to identify publicly known attackers, while the administration had already treated the victims as activists of the banned Bangladesh Chhatra League without waiting for the committee’s report.
The attackers alleged that Chhatra League-related posts were found in the students’ Facebook Messenger accounts.
The university administration also treated them as Chhatra League activists, although no such allegation had been raised against them during the nearly two years they remained on campus after the organisation was forced out during the July mass uprising.
Ammar reportedly accused Anas of Chhatra League involvement after searching his mobile phone and finding posts related to the organisation on his Facebook account.
The incident has triggered anger among students. Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal staged a human chain on campus demanding punishment for the attackers.
Police unclear about charges
Police produced the two students before a court after showing them arrested in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act. The court later sent them to jail.
However, law enforcement officials could not clearly explain the allegations against them.
Gaziur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner for media at Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, told TIMES of Bangladesh that the university authorities had detained two students, whom he identified as Abul Hasan and Anas Ahmed, over alleged fighting and disorder on campus before handing them to police.
“Shah Makhdum Police Station found preliminary evidence of their involvement in a case filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act over the July incidents. They were shown arrested in that case and sent to the court,” he said.
Asked what allegations were contained in the case, he could not provide details.
Shah Makhdum Police Station Officer-in-Charge Md Kabir Hossain also failed to explain the charges. “I do not know it by heart. I have recently joined and cannot tell you,” he said.
Asked whether the duty officer could provide the information, he replied, “He will not be able to provide it either.”
How the violence began
The incident began on Sunday night when a student went to the proctor’s office with an allegation that someone had attempted to force another person into a romantic relationship at gunpoint.
Anas went there identifying himself as the guardian of the accused student, Mohsin Alam.
The following day, the proctor held a meeting with the complainant and the accused.
When Anas attended, Ammar and his associates allegedly slapped and assaulted him.
Although there were plans to hand Anas over to police over alleged Chhatra League links, the proctor initially allowed him to leave.
Ammar and Shibir leaders later alleged that Anas and his associates attacked the Rucsu office, injuring its Information and Research Secretary Nazmus Shakib.
Anas and his companions then took shelter in the central library’s reading room, where Shibir activists led by Ammar allegedly assaulted them.
They were beaten again while university officials were trying to place the injured students in an ambulance, witnesses alleged. The victims were later handed over to police.
Asked why the assaulted students were given to police while no immediate action was taken against the attackers, Proctor Mahbubur Rahman said the university had formed an investigation committee.
“Necessary action will be taken against everyone accused based on the committee’s report,” he said.
Asked why the administration did not need an investigation to treat Anas as a Chhatra League activist but required one to act over a public assault, the proctor said, “There were allegations against them. Law enforcement agencies will prove the rest.”
“If a case is filed over the attack, it will be filed by the proctor’s office,” he added.
JCD demands action
Leaders of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal while attending a human chain under the banner of “General Students” in front of the university’s central library on Wednesday, demanded justice for the assaulted students.
The protesters demanded that the attackers’ studentship be cancelled and that they be brought to justice within 10 days.
They also called for Rucsu representatives involved in the incident to be removed from office and expelled following an investigation, alongside stronger security measures across the campus.
Sultan Ahmed Rahi, president of the organisation’s university unit, accused what he described as collaborators of Razakars and Al-Badr of attempting to destabilise the campus.
“Those who created religious divisions in 1971 and killed Hindus, Muslims and Christians tried to destabilise the campus yesterday,” he said.
Chhatra Dal Senior Vice-President Shakilur Rahman Sohag also criticised Rucsu Vice-President and Shibir leader Mostakur Rahman Jahid over his remarks about taking action against journalists.
“Even when someone dislikes a news report, threatening or intimidating journalists and launching personal attacks against them is unacceptable,” he said.
