Father demands justice after student beaten to death in Bangladesh
The father of an
engineering student who was beaten to death at his university halls in Bangladesh
has
demanded justice for his son, as protests against politically motivated attacks
on campuses continued. Abrar Fahad, 22, who
was allegedly targeted after he criticised the government in a Facebook post,
was found dead at his university halls of residence in Dhaka on Monday.
It is claimed that he
was attacked by students linked to the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), an
influential student wing of prime minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League. Barkat Ullah, Fahad’s
father, said his son had hoped to study a PhD, and wanted to serve his country.
“The university administration has to take strict measures to stop such
incidents,” he said. “They should know what’s happening inside their dormitory.
They have to hold them accountable. “If they can do that, then maybe these kind
of incidents will stop happening.”
Fahad’s death has
caused outrage across the country, prompting protests this week by students at
the universities of Dhaka, Chittagong and Rajshahi, and demands for authorities
to clampdown on political violence on campuses. Human rights groups
have condemned groups such as BCL, which have been accused of beating student
protesters and stifling debate. Last year, university and school students who
had launched a protest calling
for greater road safety were beaten with sticks and machetes in
attacks widely blamed on the Awami League and its youth wing.
Authorities took no
action against those carrying out the violence, according
to Human Rights Watch, but instead detained the protesting students. A first year student
from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) in Dhaka, where
Fahad was studying, said students did not feel safe in halls of residences. “We
never speak freely,” he said. Fahad was in his second year at Buet, the most
competitive university in the country, where he was studying electrical and
electronic engineering....
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2019/oct/10/father-demands-justice-after-beating-to-death-of-student-in-dhaka
