RU student allegedly beaten by JCD over suspicion of Shibir links

A Rajshahi University student on Tuesday accused leaders and activists of the university’s Shahid Shamsuzzoha Hall unit of Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) of interrogating and assaulting him after suspecting him of being a “mole” of Islami Chhatra Shibir.

The accused JCD leaders, however, denied the allegation, saying the student was not harassed or assaulted.

Asif Mia Anik, a 2024-25 academic year student of the university’s Department of Mathematics, alleged that his mobile phone was taken from him on the pretext of adding him to a JCD group and then searched for evidence of communication with Shibir.

He said he was subsequently labelled a “Shibir mole”, interrogated and allegedly beaten throughout the night.

Asif said he had been staying in the hall for several months by sharing a bed with another student. As the seat had been allocated to someone else, he was told to leave.

Facing financial difficulties, he approached the hall provost, who advised him to contact him again after two months, he said.

“Later, I went to the hall’s gono room [an overcrowded mass living room] to look for accommodation. I was told that I might get a seat if I spoke to Fuad [Mehedi Hasan Fuad], the hall unit JCD president,” he said.

“When I met him, he wanted to add me to a JCD group, so I handed him my phone. But after going through it, he started asking me questions about various personal matters. At one point, he accused me of having links with Shibir and took me to the hall guest room. There, the hall JCD general secretary slapped me. They checked my phone and forced me to give a statement,” Asif alleged.

Asked about his alleged links with Shibir, Asif said he was not involved in the organisation’s politics.

“However, I became acquainted with several Shibir leaders during the RUCSU election. However, when I told the hall Shibir president Rasan [Abdur Rahman Rasan] about my financial difficulties, he declined to request a seat for me,” he told Waadaa.

“Later, when I told him that I wanted to speak to Fuad, he asked me to record what happened. I needed a seat. I would have done anything for a seat,” he said.

Asif said his circumstances had led him to approach JCD.

“I have been mentally devastated by the harassment I faced,” he added.

Shahid Shamsuzzoha Hall JCD president Mehedi Hasan Fuad said Asif had been staying in the hall illegally for nearly three months.

Fuad also claimed that Asif had previously stayed in the hall Shibir unit’s Welfare Building for seven months.

He said that when he took Asif’s phone to add him to the hall JCD’s group, he found conversations between Asif and Rasan, the hall Shibir president.

However, denying the allegation of assault, Fuad said, “He was not beaten in any way. An attempt is being made to discredit Chhatra Dal by using Asif.”

Hall unit JCD president Sultan Ahmed Rahi said they informed him (Fuad) after finding Asif in the room of the hall JCD president.

“I instructed them not to allow any unwanted incident to occur. Later, he was handed over to the appropriate authorities through the hall administration without any harassment or unpleasant behaviour,” he said.

Hall unit Shibir president Abdur Rahman Rasan said Asif had been seeking accommodation from several people because of problems in his family.

“Due to the provost’s repeated contradictory behaviour in the hall, I had asked him to keep records of everything,” he said.

Asked whether Asif was a Shibir activist, Rasan said, “He has no connection with the Shibir unit. He had known me previously, so he told me everything. There is nothing beyond that.”

Following the incident, leaders of the university Shibir unit met with the two pro-vice-chancellors and other senior officials on Tuesday morning and placed four demands.

They demanded the expulsion of the hall JCD president and legal action against him over the alleged offence; disciplinary action against all JCD leaders involved in the incident under university rules; ensuring the student’s safety and medical treatment and facilitating communication with his family; and removing the hall provost from his post.

Shahid Shamsuzzoha Hall Provost Prof Al Amin Sarker said he arrived at the hall at around 3 am.

“Before that, the student had gone to another student’s room and handed over his phone to be added to a WhatsApp group. Something they saw there raised some suspicion. Later, around 3 am, the JCD president called and informed me about the matter,” he said.

“I then kept the student in my room and later accompanied him to his room. The student told me that he had nothing to do with any of this and had only gone to request a seat from them,” the provost said.

He said the university administration would form an investigation committee to determine what happened and whether the allegation that the student was assaulted was true.

“The details will be known after the investigation,” he said.