A Bangladeshi student leader was beaten to death on his university campus in an apparent retaliation for attacks on protestors during the upheaval that deposed former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last month.
Shamim Ahmed attended Jahangirnagar University in the capital Dhaka and was a key member of Hasina’s Awami League student wing, according to police officer Abu Bakkar.
Bakkar claimed Ahmed was attacked by unknown assailants on Wednesday night for leading an attack on student demonstrators on campus in mid-July, when protests demanding Hasina’s resignation from office were gaining traction.
“We took him to Gonoshasthaya Hospital, where he later died,” the officer explained. Staff at the hospital confirmed to AFP that Ahmed died after being admitted with multiple injuries.
Ahmed is at least the second leader of the Awami League’s student branch to die this month. According to local media accounts, fellow leader Abdullah Al Masud died hours after being battered by a crowd in Rajshahi, northern Bangladesh, on September 8.
He was also accused of organising counter-demonstrations against the student-led rebellion against Hasina, who fled the nation in early August, minutes before demonstrators stormed her Dhaka palace.
Hasina’s government was accused of serious violations, including mass incarceration and arbitrary executions of political opponents. More than 450 people were slain during the weeks of bloodshed leading up to the despotic leader’s demise.
Since Hasina’s departure for exile in nearby India, cabinet ministers and other prominent members of her party have been imprisoned, and her government’s nominees have been removed from courts and the central bank.
At least 25 journalists believed to be close to Hasina’s dictatorship have been detained after her dismissal and replacement by an interim government led by Nobel Peace Prize recipient Mohammed Yunus.
Bottom Line
Ahmed’s role as a key member of Hasina’s student wing suggests that his murder is a consequence of the ongoing tension between pro-Hasina forces and those seeking reform.
His alleged involvement in leading attacks on protestors during the mass demonstrations adds a layer of complexity, pointing to a cycle of violence where political actors on both sides of the divide are targeted.
His death, along with that of another Awami League student leader earlier this month, signals a troubling trend where campus politics have become intertwined with national unrest, making universities flashpoints for political violence.
