Protests over the killing of Dhaka University student Shahriar Alam Shammo continued for the second consecutive day on Thursday on the campus and elsewhere in the country.
They staged demonstrations protesting at the killing of Shahriar Alam, who was a leader of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and demanding immediate arrest of and exemplary punishment for the killers, and ensuring safety and security for the students on the campus.聽
A section of students of Dhaka University boycotted classes and examinations for the whole day, instead of half-day class and examination suspension announced by the university authorities earlier.
They also locked two academic buildings of the university, also demanding the resignation of the university vice-chancellor Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan, and proctor Saifuddin Ahmed for their failure to ensure safety and security for the students on the campus. 聽
JCD also held a protest rally on the DU campus and different educational institutions in different districts, demanding immediate arrest and trial of the killers, a safe academic environment, and the resignation of DU vice-chancellor and proctor.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, addressing a human chain in Dhaka, suspected that there were 鈥榩olitical reasons鈥� behind the killing.
Some other student organisations also held demonstrations on the DU campus on the day.
Shahriar, a student of the Institute of Education and Research, died in an attack allegedly by miscreants in the Suhrawardy Udyan area Tuesday night.
DU authorities also declared Thursday as a mourning day and suspended classes and examinations till 1:00pm on the day over the death of Shahriar.
The administrative works of the university were out of the purview of the suspension.
On Thursday morning, very few people were seen on the campus as no classes and examinations were held.
A group of students, under the banner of Shontrasbirodhi Sikkharthibrindo, enforced a daylong strike on the DU campus demanding justice for their fellow student Shahriar.
They rejected the half-day suspension of the classes and examinations and boycotted all academic and administrative activities throughout the day.
They also called upon all students to refrain from attending classes, examinations, or engaging in any official work.
At around 1:30pm on Thursday, the gates of the buildings of the Faculty of Arts and Faculty of Social Sciences were seen locked by the protesting students.
Under the same banner, the students in the afternoon staged a rally in front of Aparajeyo Bangla on the campus.
Before the rally, they brought out protest processions on key roads of the campus chanting slogans against terrorism and administrative inaction.
Leaders and activists from JCD and several left-leaning student organisations joined the rally, expressing solidarity with the protesters.
Following a pre-announced programme, leaders and activists of JCD wore black badges and staged sit-ins at different educational institutions in different districts on Thursday.
On the DU campus on the day, JCD staged a sit-in in front of the DU vice-chancellor鈥檚 residence between 11:30am and 1:00pm protesting at the killing of Shahriar, the literature and publication affairs secretary of the student organisation鈥檚 AF Rahman Hall unit.
Leaders and activists of the JCD central committee attended the programme.
JCD president Rakibul Islam Rakib said, 鈥榃e condemn the silent roles of the vice-chancellor and the proctor of the university.鈥�
鈥楾he allies of the defeated forces of 1971, who are ashamed to reveal their organisation鈥檚 identity in public, have been spreading propaganda against Shahriar on social media,鈥� he said.
Issuing a stern warning against the covert politics of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, he vowed to resist them on the streets.
The student leaders at the programme announced to organise a prayer session at DU central mosque after Asr prayers on Friday.
Uttaranchal Chhatra Forum organised a human chain in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka protesting at the killing of Shahriar.
Addressing the human chain, BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi mentioned that Shahriar, in a Facebook post a few days ago, protested against a movement that tried to stop singing the national anthem. 聽
鈥楾he people who are for the country, against aggression, for the independence of this country, the national anthem, and the national flag lost their lives,鈥� he said.
鈥楾hat is why, I said that there must be a political reason behind this killing,鈥� he said.
The BNP leaders alleged that the vice-chancellor did not want to listen to the words of the leaders and activists of JCD when they went to the VC demanding justice as Shahriar was a JCD leader and the VC did not like JCD politics.
In the afternoon, Dhaka University Human Rights Association organised a human chain at the Anti-Violence Raju Memorial Sculpture demanding the formation of a quick response team under the proctorial body, to ensure a sound and safe environment in the Suhrawardy Udyan area, medical support and rehabilitation for drug addicts and mentally unstable individuals and an end to 鈥榤ob violence鈥� by ensuring the rule of law.
The police on Wednesday arrested three people in connection with the killing and a Dhaka metropolitan magistrate court sent them to jail. The arrested people were identified as 鈥榦utsiders鈥� by the police.
The university authorities on Wednesday formed a seven-member committee to probe the death.
