JU students block campus after student’s death in autorickshaw accident

First-year students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) staged a campus-wide blockade on Wednesday, protesting the death of Afsana Karim Rachi, a marketing department student who was struck by an auto-rickshaw on campus.

Students locked all university gates from 7:30am, boycotted classes and exams, and announced that no vehicles would be allowed to enter during the blockade.

Their demands, outlined in an eight-point charter, include ensuring campus safety.

“This incident is a structural murder. We have presented eight demands in response to this tragedy,” said Lamisha Zaman, a first-year history department student. “Our protest began at 7am after miking across the dormitories.”

Protesters said their demonstration would continue until Afsana’s funeral, scheduled for noon. Groups of students also staged protests on campus roads, demanding safer roads within the university.

Mohammad Ali Chishti, a student of the 53rd batch, said: “Our location is at the campus gate courtyard. No vehicle can enter or leave campus. We are not blocking the highway but are staying within our grounds.”

Marjan, another student from the history department, added: “Since 6am, we’ve been carrying out the ‘Jahangirnagar Blockade’ program at Dairy Gate. No motorized vehicles are allowed to run inside or enter from outside.”

Afsana’s death, just a month into her university life, has reignited calls to ban auto-rickshaws on campus.

This is not the first time students have raised such concerns. In 2022, Pooja Majumder, a journalism student, was seriously injured in an auto-rickshaw accident. Despite demands, the administration failed to implement restrictions on auto-rickshaws, citing a lack of initiative.

On Tuesday, students protested outside the vice-chancellor’s residence, demanding the removal of the head of the Estates Wing. They withdrew early Wednesday after the university administration assured action and pledged to address the eight-point demand.