Bangladeshi Journalists in International Media (BJIM) strongly condemned the attack on journalists and students at Rajshahi University by leaders and activists of the university unit of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD).
At least 10 people were injured, including four campus correspondents in the attack. The journalists are Nur Ahsan Mridul of The Daily Star, Arifuzzaman Qorban of bdnews24.com, Zahidul Islam of Agamir Shomoy, and Mainul Islam Raju of Samakal.
BJIM said that the incident was not simply a campus clash. Journalists were attacked while doing their jobs: observing, recording and documenting events in the public interest. An attack on reporters for documenting violence is an attack on press freedom and the public’s right to know, it said.
The platform is particularly alarmed by accounts that journalists attempting to film the incident, or to protect colleagues already under attack, were themselves assaulted and threatened. Attempts to beat reporters, seize their phones or prevent them from recording are not incidental acts of violence. They are attempts to suppress evidence and control what the public is allowed to see.
Campus journalists occupy an indispensable and uniquely vulnerable place in Bangladesh’s media landscape. They are often the first reporters present when violence erupts, students protest, university authorities face allegations of wrongdoing, or political groups seek to exert coercive influence over campus life.
The campus correspondents also often live and study alongside the very people and organisations they cover. The threat therefore does not necessarily end when an incident is over. Intimidation can follow them into residential halls, classrooms and their everyday lives, BJIM said.
Bangladesh has already seen the consequences of political violence and impunity on university campuses. Over the years, journalists and students faced intimidation and violence from Chhatra League (BCL) activists, including documented attacks on reporters covering campus violence, political clashes and student protests.
BCL, the student wing of the Awami League, was banned by the interim government under the Anti-Terrorism Act in October 2024. The government notification cited a long record of alleged violence and abuses, including attacks during the July 2024 uprising.
“That history cannot be allowed to repeat itself under a different political banner,” BJIM said.
A change of government cannot simply mean a change in the colours worn by those who intimidate journalists. Bangladesh’s political transition will mean little if one politically connected student organisation is allowed to inherit the culture of violence, coercion and impunity associated with another.
BJIM notes that the central leadership of JCD has announced an internal investigation into the attack. Any credible disciplinary action would be welcome. But a party investigation cannot substitute for an independent criminal investigation or university disciplinary proceedings conducted with due process.
The Rajshahi University administration and law-enforcement agencies must ensure a prompt and impartial investigation, identify those responsible using video footage, witness testimony and other available evidence, and pursue appropriate criminal and disciplinary action.
The university must also ensure the safety of the injured journalists and other reporters who witnessed or documented the attack, protect them from retaliation, preserve relevant CCTV footage and other evidence, provide necessary medical support, and guarantee that journalists can continue reporting from campus without interference or intimidation.
BJIM further called on the central leadership of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party to demonstrate publicly and unequivocally that violence against journalists will carry consequences, regardless of the political position or influence of those responsible.
Accountability now requires a credible investigation, due process for those accused, consequences for those found responsible, and guarantees that journalists at Rajshahi University can continue their work safely and independently.
No journalist, on any campus or anywhere in Bangladesh, should ever face violence, intimidation or retaliation for doing their job. Press freedom cannot depend on who holds power, who commands the streets, or whose actions a journalist is documenting, BJIM added.
