The political climate at Dhaka University has heated up once again following a Facebook post by Meghmallar Bosu, president of the DU wing of the Chhatra Union, with Chhatra Shibir voicing their outrage.
On Saturday night, Bosu posted a photo of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin with a caption beginning with "The only option is red terror," sparking significant tension among various student organizations.
In his post, Bosu wrote: "Stop holding demonstrations. Stop making public committee announcements. We will be wiped out if we are not careful. Let’s take this underground, comrades. Stay tuned."
The post drew immediate backlash.
A DU student, Musaddiq Ali Ibne Mohammad, called for a protest march at 12:15am that same night.
The march, joined by Mahin Sarker and AB Zubayer—central coordinator and co-coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement—culminated in participants throwing shoes at the graffiti of Siraj Sikder near the DU central library.
This graffiti had been painted after the removal of a mural of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Leftist organizations across the country condemned the act, labelling it as disrespectful toward Siraj Sikder, a significant figure in leftist politics.
Dhaka University-based left-wing groups, along with the Revolutionary Student-Youth Movement (RSYM), staged protests in various locations.
On Sunday, a platform called the Martyred Revolutionaries and Patriots Memorial Union organized a demonstration in front of the National Museum, which RSYM documented on Facebook.
On Saturday, a separate group under the banner Anti-fascism Student-Mass staged a protest at the Raju Memorial Sculpture at TSC.
Additionally, the Revolutionary Student Unity released a statement criticizing the act of shoe-throwing as disdainful in a democratic campus environment.
Conversely, several student leaders posted on social media denouncing the concept of "Red Terror."
The DU unit of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, in particular, voiced their outrage.
SM Farhad, president of the DU wing of Chhatra Shibir, claimed in a Facebook post that 13 of their members had been killed by "Red Terrorism."
Farhad called those advocating for "Red Terror" associates of fascism and vowed to prevent its establishment in Bangladesh.
He also expressed concerns over "tagging politics," saying that his organization had long been victims of such tactics.
Farhad reiterated the importance of maintaining a democratic campus environment, referencing one of the key demands of the July uprising: to prevent the resurgence of extremist forces, whether left or right-wing.
Mahin Sarker, a central coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, suggested in a Facebook post that the debate was being misdirected, though he did not elaborate further.
Meanwhile, Meghmallar Bosu defended his controversial statement, clarifying that the "Red Terror" he referred to was about "defensive violence" by the oppressed. "Why are they so afraid of defensive violence if they are not engaged in offensive violence?" he questioned.
Despite Bosu's clarification, the leadership of the Chhatra Union, along with other leftist organizations, has distanced itself from the idea of "Red Terror."
DU Chhatra Union General Secretary Maeen Ahmed criticized the irony of someone announcing an "underground" plan on social media.
He also emphasized that the Chhatra Union believes in democratic transformation toward socialism rather than Marxist or Maoist principles.
“While we acknowledge the Bolshevik Red Terror, we do not wish to replicate it,” said Anamul Hasan Onoy, education and research secretary of the Central Student Union (Mahir Shahriar Reza faction).
A general diary was filed against Meghmallar Bosu by Zubayer Bin Nessari on Saturday, following a press conference held at Madhur Canteen of Dhaka University regarding Bosu’s Facebook post.
