Students protest on DU campus demanding justice for Sohag

Students under various banners held protests on the Dhaka University campus today demanding justice for the brutal murder of Lal Chand, alias Sohag, a scrap trader who was hacked to death in front of Mitford hospital.

Around 7:30pm, central leaders of the Students Against Discrimination brought out a torch procession from Shahbagh, which ended at the Central Shaheed Minar premises with a brief rally.

Its Central Committee President Rifat Rashid and its General Secretary Hasan Inam, among others, were present at the procession.

Addressing the gathering, the leaders called upon people across the country to unite and resist extortion and anarchy carried out by political groups.

Rifat Rashid said, "If you can, then within a week, identify and immediately arrest those involved in murders and rapes happening across the country. But so far we have not seen any statement from you. If you can control this situation, take action now — if you cannot, then on behalf of the students and the people, we say, please step down."

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Gonotantrik Chhatra Jote also held a separate protest rally and brought out a procession on the DU campus at 4:00pm from TSC, demanding justice for a series of killings that have taken place across the country over the past two days.

Leaders of various student bodies under the left-leaning alliance addressed a brief rally after the procession.

Rafiquzzaman Farid, general secretary of the Socialist Students' Front; Rathindranath Bappi, central organising secretary of Bangladesh Students' Union; and Jabir Ahmed Jubel, general secretary of the Revolutionary Students' Unity, among them.

Speaking at the rally, Rathindranath Bappi said, "The ongoing reign of terror in the country is nothing new. Since August 5, the interim government has completely failed to curb this violence. We have repeatedly demanded the resignation of the incompetent home adviser, but the interim administration has kept him in power, putting people's lives at risk."

Jabir Ahmed Jubel said, "It has not even been a year since we survived the bloody July uprising, and yet we are forced to take to the streets again against fresh killings."

Referring to the brutal killing of Sohag in Mitford, he said, "We can hardly recall when old Dhaka last witnessed such a heinous crime."

He also accused leaders and activists of the Jubo Dal, saying, "These incidents only remind us of their notorious legacy. After the mass upprising, we dreamt of a new Bangladesh, but these killings show how far we still have to go."