Hasnat demands justice for DU, JU beating deaths

Hasnat Abdullah, one of the coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, has demanded that those involved in the beating deaths of a man at Dhaka University on suspicion of theft and a former Chhtra League leader at Jahangirnagar University be swiftly brought to justice.

He voiced the demand in a Facebook post on Thursday, also calling for justice for those who had been victims of abuse by Chhatra League members at various times at universities and administrative actions against teachers who had supported authoritarian rule.

"The Dhaka University campus is reopening on September 22, and other campuses across the country will also open soon. Students cannot sit in class and exams with attackers.” 

He said no legal or administrative action had been taken against Chhatra League members for crimes on campuses yet. “The administration must swiftly take legal action against those involved in attacks on students during the July uprising."

The student movement coordinator said lynching could never be a solution in any circumstance. 

“Whoever is involved in it must be identified and punished. No one should escape justice by claiming to be an ordinary student. Overall, we do not want any rehabilitation of attackers or abusers. Every campus in post-fascist Bangladesh should be free of such elements.

"There is no path open for the rehabilitation of the identified criminals from the Chhatra League under the guise of ordinary students, nor should anyone escape punishment if they are found guilty of taking the law into their own hands. I urge both the administration and general students to remain vigilant. Moreover, we must also be cautious about rehabilitating those intellectuals who supported Hasina's fascist regime, either culturally or politically."

Tofazzal Hossain, 32, was beaten to death in front of Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall at DU on suspicion of theft around midnight on Wednesday. 

On the other hand, a former organizational secretary of the Chhatra League’s JU unit, Shamim Ahmed, was subjected to a mob beating the same day. Doctors declared him dead when he was brought to the hospital.