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| Bangladesh |
| DU students fearful of 'Shibir' tag |
| 2014-05-06 |
| [Dhaka Tribune] Bangladesh Chhatra League ... the student wing of the Bangla Awami League ... leaders beating students suspected of being Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... activists has become somewhat commonplace at Dhaka University. Assaults on such students are said to stem from the feeling that the Jamaat's student wing should be banned. Several media reports say Chhatra League activists have beaten over 100 DU students in the last one and a half years suspecting them to be Shibir activists. Many of them received serious injuries in the attacks but were later found to not be involved with Shibir. In most of the cases, Chhatra League men attacked to avenge personal feuds with friends, juniors or even seniors and using the Shibir tag was just a trick. In the wake of the assaults, general students at the university are fearful that they may also be labelled as Shibir and be subjected to attacks at any time. A month ago, Shazidur Rahman, a second-year student of the Peace and Conflict Studies Department, was ejected from his dormitory and handed over to the police by Chhatra League leaders, alleging that he was linked with Shibir. However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... Shazidur, also the Secretary of Information and Research Affairs of the DU FR hall Chhatra League unit, said he had a conflict with one of his big shots which is why the allegation of involvement with Shibir was brought against him. Chhatra League activists of the DU Zahurul Haq hall unit yesterday brutally beat up two students of the Islamic Studies Department, suspecting their involvement with Shibir. The beating took place in front of the DU Arts Faculty at around 2pm. The two were Masum Billah and Ahmadullah Siddique who had obtained their master's degrees lately and came to the department to attend a farewell programme. Chhatra League men began beating the duo with wooden and bamboo sticks in front of hundreds of students when they were leaving the campus after the programme. At one stage, three professors came forward to save the victims but the attackers did not pay heed to the professors' call and pushed them back, causing one of them to fall to the ground. University Proctor Amzad Ali arrived at the scene shortly but could not pacify the attackers either. Masum Billah was in a critical condition when the Chhatra League men left. He and Ahmadullah were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital immediately. Their classmates said the two got into a quarrel with some of their friends over publishing a souvenir a few days back. The department's Chairman later settled the dispute. Students of the Islamic Studies Department, who were present during the beating, said neither Masum nor Ahmadullah had any involvement with Shibir. "We could not exactly recognize the attackers who beat Masum and Ahmadullah but learned that they were Chhatra League activists of the Zahurul Haq hall unit," said one of their classmates preferring anonymity. Professor Dr Mohammad Shamsul Alam of the department said the beating was not sparked by any political clash. "Personal conflict could be behind this," he said. Proctor Amzad Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune neither of the two students had any political involvement. "It might have stemmed from a previous enmity. If we found their involvement with Shibir, we would have handed them over to the police," he said. The proctor said the victims were told to submit a written complaint against the attackers. He also assured them of action against the offenders. Chhatra League Zahurul Haq hall unit President Rifat Rahman, however, denied the allegation of beating made against his organization's activists. He said the Chhatra League activists did not beat the two. |
| Posted by:Fred |