A court has issued arrest warrants against eight individuals, including writer-professor Mohammad Zafar Iqbal, former Vice-Chancellor of Dhaka University ASM Maksud Kamal and, over the armed attacks on Dhaka University students during the July Mass Uprising.
Taking formal charges into cognisance, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 passed the order on Sunday.
The others named in the arrest warrants are former Supreme Court Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury, Professor AKM Jamal Uddin of Sociology Department at Dhaka University, central president of the banned Chhatra League Saddam Hussain, general secretary Sheikh Wali Asif Enan, Dhaka University unit Chhatra League president Mazharul Kabir Shayon, and general secretary Tanbir Hasan Shaikat.
Prosecutor Sheikh Moinul Karim, who represented the prosecution during the hearing, said among the accused, Shamsuddin Chowdhury, Jamal Uddin, and Tanbir Hasan Shaikat have been arrested and are currently in prison.
Earlier, on 16 September, the prosecution submitted formal charges to the registrar’s office of the International Crimes Tribunal.
Recently, the investigation agency of the International Crimes Tribunal submitted an investigation report to the prosecution regarding allegations of crimes against humanity concerning the armed attacks on Dhaka University students during the July Mass Uprising against Zafar Iqbal and seven others.
Following review, it was submitted to the Tribunal as formal charges.
According to the prosecution, the sequence of events during the quota reform movement in July 2024 – specifically the context, statements, and roles of the individuals concerned regarding the attacks on protesting students at Dhaka University – was analysed through a lengthy investigation.
Prosecution sources claimed that at a press conference organised at Gono Bhaban on 14 July 2024, then prime minister Sheikh Hasina referred to the protesting students as “children of Razakars” and “grandchildren of Razakars.”
The prosecution said this statement played a role in creating an atmosphere of hatred and violence against the demonstrators, subsequently setting the background for attacks by Chhatra League across various parts of the country, including Dhaka University.
The formal charges further claimed that in a telephone conversation on the night of that day between Sheikh Hasina and then Vice-Chancellor ASM Maksud Kamal, the protesters were also termed “Razakar,” and information was obtained regarding directives to use lethal force against the student-public.
The prosecution claimed that on 15 July 2024, armed cadres of Chhatra League attacked more than three hundred unarmed protesting students at Dhaka University.
During the attack, students were beaten, hacked, and shot, resulting in injuries. Later, when a section of the injured went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment, they were attacked there as well.
A writing by former Shahjalal University of Science and Technology professor Zafar Iqbal was also considered as part of the allegations in the investigation.
In a two-page letter circulated on social media during the July Mass Uprising, he wrote, “Dhaka University is my university, my beloved university. But I feel I will never want to go to this university again. When I see the students, I will feel they might be ‘Razakar’.”
According to prosecution sources, just as Sheikh Hasina’s remarks identifying protesters as “Razakar” incited hatred and violence, Zafar Iqbal’s comment similarly created an environment generating hatred, incitement, and legitimising subsequent attacks.
For that reason, his role was incorporated into the formal charges under the International Crimes Tribunal Act.
Zafar Iqbal’s writing spread widely on social media on 16 July 2024. On the following day, 17 July, general students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology declared him persona non grata on campus for life.
