BUET students to continue boycotting classes, exams
The protesting students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology on Tuesday announced that they would boycott all sorts of academic activities until the charge sheet against the killers of Abrar Fahad was submitted and the alleged killers were permanently expelled from the university.
They, however, announced that they postponed their ‘field protest’ from today on the BUET campus.
Meanwhile, another suspect who took part in killing Abrar was arrested from Dinajpur and another accused in the murder case gave statement to a Dhaka court.
At a press conference at the BUET Shaheed Minar, an organiser of the ongoing protests Md Sayem, a fourth-year student of the university’s electrical and electronic engineering department, announced their new protest programmes.
He said that a teachers-students oath taking programme will be held today against criminal activities and sectarianism at the campus.
Sayem further said that though they were withholding their field protest but they would keep an eye on the progress of Abrar murder prosecution.
On Tuesday, detectives arrested another listed accused in the murder case from Katlabazar area in Birampur upazila of Dinajpur district.
He is ASM Najmus Sadat, son of Hafizur Rahman of Kalai Uttar Para area in Joypurhat district and a student of the 17th batch of the mechanical engineering department of BUET.
Dhaka Metropolitan Police deputy commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman said that Sadat was arrested at about 3:30am.
He said that Sadat was trying to flee to India through the Hili border.
Including Sadat, 20 people have so far been arrested in connection with the murder.
On the day, expelled Bangladesh Chhatra League leader Moniruzzaman Monir made a statement before Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Sarafuzzaman Ansari’s court with regard to Abrar’s murder.
Monir is a third-year student of water resources engineering department at BUET and expelled literature secretary of the BUET BCL unit.
With him, a total of five accused have so far made statements before court regarding Abrar’s murder.
The court placed Shamsul Arefin Rafat, a second-year student of the university’s mechanical engineering department, on a four-day fresh remand when detective branch inspector Wahiduzzaman, also the investigation officer of the case, produced him before the court on expiry of his five-day remand.
Besides, the court sent Md Akash Hossain, a third-year student of the civil engineering department, to jail on completion of his five-day remand.
On October 9, Monir, Rafat and Akash were placed on a five-day remand each.
Road transport and bridges minister and ruling Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader at a press conference in his ministerial office urged the protesting BUET students to go back to the class.
He said that prime minister Sheikh Hasina met Abrar’s parents on Monday and assured them of a quick disposal of his murder case.
The PM also immediately gave instructions for arresting the perpetrators, Quader said, adding that the students should focus on their education.
He also said that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party did not want justice for Abrar’s murder rather the party wanted to make it an issue for a movement.
‘If the BNP creates violence over Abrar’s murder, steps will be taken against them,’ he added.
Replying to a question, the minister said that banning student politics could not be a means of the solution.
But the government has no objection over the banning of student politics at BUET, he said.
On Tuesday, a group of students of city’s Notre Dame College, from which Abrar passed the higher secondary exam, brought out a procession in front of the college campus demanding justice for him.
They also demanded highest punishment to Abrar’s killers.
The BUET authorities already suspended the 19 students accused of torturing Abrar to death.
Abrar, a second-year student of BUET’s electrical and electronics engineering department, was tortured to death by leaders and activists of the university’s BCL unit at his dorm on October 7 early hours.
He was reportedly killed for his critical views on social media over the recently signed deals between Bangladesh and India.
The students later relaxed their agitation after the BUET vice-chancellor and other teachers requested them to withdraw their movement in view of the admission tests.
The BUET students have been agitating for realising their 10-point demands including rustication of the killers of Abrar from the university, capital punishment to them, compensation to Abrar’s family, bearing the family expenses for running the case, speedy trial of the case, making the charge-sheet public, rustication from the university of all those involved in torturing students in the past and banning organisation-based student politics at BUET.
In the face of the student agitation, the BUET authorities on Saturday issued five separate notices announcing a ban on organisation-based politics, conducting drives against illegal occupants at the dormitories and sealing off the student organisation offices on the campus, introducing a web portal where students could file complaints about any kind of abuse.
Notre Dame College students stage a demonstration at Motijheel in Dhaka on Tuesday in protest at Abrar killing. — Sourav Lasker
News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net
