The students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) staged daylong demonstrations under different banners demanding justice for the murder of a former Chhatra League leader.
During the demonstrations, they mentioned the murder of Shamim Mollah as "extrajudicial killing."
Students under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement brought out a protest rally from the Mahua Mancha adjacent to the central Shaheed Minar of the university at 11:30pm on Thursday.
The procession passed through the social science faculty in front of the central library and ended in front of the registrar's office of the university.
During the rally, the students put forward three demands.
The demands are – those involved in extrajudicial killings inside the campus should be brought to justice under the university law after investigation; those involved in the attack on teachers and students on the night of July 15 should be brought to justice; and student politics on the campus should be banned.
Meanwhile, another group of students brought out a protest rally from Murad Chattar of the university under the banner of “Save Jahangirnagar Movement” at 1pm.
Later, the rally passed through several streets of the university and ended with a brief rally in front of the registrar's office.
Besides, the students of the university held a human chain program at the front road of the central Shaheed Minar at 3:30pm.
During the program, the students demanded shutdown of nationwide mob justice, legal action following a fair investigation into the extrajudicial killing in Jahangirnagar University, and a ban on student politics on the campus.
What are the students saying?
"A former Chhatra League leader was beaten up twice on our campus, and that led to his death," said Prapti Taposhi, a 47-batch student of the university's economics department.
"We, the students of Jahangirnagar University, want to make it clear that we are against any extrajudicial killing. If someone commits a crime, he should be punished according to the law. But the students of Jahangirnagar University do not support the extrajudicial killing of anyone," she added.
Abdur Rashid Jitu, coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Students' Movement, JU unit, said: "The incident that took place at our university yesterday is a completely planned incident. We know that Shamim Mollah is accused of various misdeeds, including drug syndicates. Bangladesh has a legal and judicial system for this. But in order to destabilize the university, a particular group has done this incident to dominate all the places. After bringing Shamim Mollah to the proctorial office, he was tortured twice. We strongly protest it. Those who are directly or indirectly involved in yesterday's murder should be brought to justice through an impartial investigation committee; otherwise, we will take strict action against the newly appointed university administration.”
What the university authority says
Meanwhile, the university administration has formed a probe committee to investigate the death of Shamim Mollah.
The announcement was made in a statement signed by Dr Mohammed Mohiuddin, director of the university's public relations office.
"The university authorities consider any extrajudicial killing as an undesirable and punishable offence. Authorities have condemned the attack on Shamim Mollah. At the same time, we firmly believe that the perpetrators of this attack should be identified and punished as soon as possible through proper investigation," the statement said.
Proctor of the university, AKM Rashidul Alam, told Dhaka Tribune: "A probe committee has been formed to investigate the matter. We hope to submit the preliminary investigation report by tonight. Efforts are being made to identify those involved in the attack by collecting CCTV footage and other information."
Earlier, a group of students beat up Shamim Mollah in the Prantik Gate Area of the university at 5:45pm on Wednesday. He was later handed over to the university's proctorial body.
The university authorities handed him over to Ashulia police. Later, he was taken to Savar Gonoshasthaya Samaj-based Medical College Hospital, where doctors declared him dead.