Punish culpable BCL men

Driving an auto-rickshaw for a living, Ishaq Molla was all too happy when his only son got admitted to Dhaka University's (DU) marketing department this year.

It instilled hope that the 19-year-old would soon become self reliant and take up the responsibility as the breadwinner of the ordinary lower middle class family.

So he naturally became worried when Hafijur Molla informed that he was forced by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders of Salimullah Muslim Hall to keep standing for nearly four hours at night on January 26 in the freezing cold as a part of a “guestroom duty”.

Ishaq did not understand why Hafijur had to do it despite informing the “senior brothers” that he had a high fever and a cold which he had caught on having to take up residence on a hall corridor.

Hafijur's arrival at home in Purbo Shampur village under Faridpur's Sadarpur upazila the next day did little to relieve Ishaq. His worst nightmare came true on February 2 when Hafijur passed away on his way to Dhaka seeking better treatment.

Hafijur was buried in his village home on February 3 and the cause of death was pneumonia and typhoid, he told The Daily Star, still clueless as to what this “guestroom duty” was.

Freshers say this is a weekly session where BCL leaders brief activists on political activities.

Protesters of two alliances of 13 student organisations on the campus yesterday refused to let it go as an ordinary death. They, along with others on social media, termed it a “murder” and a result of a trend of “harassment at guestrooms”.

Samrajjobad Birodhi Chhatra Oikkya, at a rally in front of the proctor's office, demanded that the BCL leaders and DU administration take responsibility for the “murder”.

Carrying a banner reading, “Stop student's harassments at guestrooms and ensure their security”, Progotishil Chhatra Jote later brought out a procession along with unaffiliated students and organised a rally demanding a proper investigation and trial of the accused.

The alliance leaders alleged that BCL leaders force first year students against their will to attend political programmes, irrespective of what they were going through physically or mentally.

Hafijur was forced to do the same despite being ill and later died from pneumonia, they claimed.

“Hafijur's death was in no way a natural one...it was clearly a murder,” said Saifuzzaman Sakon, president of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front.

Bangladesh Chhatra Union President Lucky Akter said, “The student wing of the ruling party compels students to attend their political programmes and threaten to evict them from the dormitory otherwise. Hafijur was a victim of such a brutality.”

Ashraful Alam Shohel, general secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra Federation, said, “BCL men now do not hesitate to kill anyone to strengthen their power on the campus.”

The alliance announced holding a teacher-student-guardian solidarity rally at the base of Aparajeya Bangla on February 14. Business faculty students are scheduled to organise another on February 16.

Proctor AM Amzad said, “The hall administration is liable for these kinds of matters. We will form a committee to investigate the incident.”

On “guestroom duty”, he said, “It is an illogical method to run an organisation and a student grows hatred towards the organisation because of torture.”

BCL DU unit President Abid Al Hasan said, “If any BCL leader or activist is involved...we will take organisational steps against him...we are ready to help the administration to take action against the culprits.” 

Hafijur was a follower of BCL Salimullah Muslim Hall unit General Secretary Didar Mohammad, who denies the allegations. He said first year students were not allowed to attend the “guestroom” sessions and they never force any student to do so.

The hall provost, Golam Mohammad Bhuiyan, claimed to have no idea about BCL's “guestroom” sessions.