Sixteen students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) have demanded the suspension of their fellow students who were arrested last year from Tanguar Haor on suspicion of being activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir, until the disposal of the ongoing cases against them.
They made the demands at a press conference held at the Shaheed Minar of Buet on Monday afternoon.
Earlier, they submitted a petition to Vice-Chancellor Satya Prasad Majumder with these demands.
Buet students Mishu Dutta, Tanvir Mahmud and Sagar Biswas read out the written application at the press conference.
They formed a human chain on August 6 last year demanding a fair trial of the case filed against 24 Buet students detained in Sunamganj on July 31, 2023. However, for standing in this human chain, the students were intimidated and interrogated in various ways.
Even after the complaint, no measures were taken for the investigation to punish the accused. It was also alleged in the written application that fundamentalist organizations like Hizb ut-Tahrir and Shibir are active on the Buet campus.
The 16 students urged the vice-chancellor to immediately reveal the identities of those seen in the CCTV footage of Buet and hand them over to the security forces.
Police filed a case under the Anti-Terrorism Act against the people arrested from Tanguar Haor on suspicion of “secret conspiracy and disrupting public security”. That case is currently pending.
The 16 students felt that being together on the same campus with those accused of being involved in an anti-state conspiracy was a threat to their lives.
In this regard, Chhatra League like-minded student said to the Buet vice-chancellor: "It is scary for us that our names and identities have been unveiled in the secret group of militancy. It is apparent that someone affiliated with Buet has played a role in exposing us. We urge authorities to investigate and identify the individuals responsible for this breach of privacy. It is unsettling to share campus space with individuals accused of such serious offences, particularly those who are out on bail. For the safety and well-being of all students, we urge that they be temporarily suspended from academic activities and restricted from accessing campus facilities until the legal proceedings are resolved.”
Later, in response to a question, Ashiqul Alam, one of the 16 students, told reporters that they did not want to see militancy in Buet. They are in favour of systematic “policy politics” and against “power politics”, adding that they were always vocal against fundamentalist forces.