Students of different public universities, along with student bodies on Sunday held a rally and procession and did wall art, demanding justice for mass killings, a stop to the attacks on students, the withdrawal of cases filed against the leaders and activists of the Students Movement Against Discrimination platform, and the release of those detained.聽
The students of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology drew graffiti on its wall聽 expressing solidarity with the call of the Students Protest Against Discrimination for anti-quota movement.
Later, graffiti were seen being erased from the wall by some people in presence of the university security guards.聽
Leaders of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Jote brought out a black-flag protest procession from in front of the National Press Club that marched to the Paltan crossing defying police obstacles and held a rally there.
The leaders of different student bodies, including Bangladesh Chhatra Union, Ganatantrik Chhatra Council, Socialist Students Front and Pahari Chhatra Parishad, also joined the procession and addressed the rally.
They demanded the 鈥榬esignation of prime minister Sheikh Hasina for the mass killings鈥�.
The rally also pressed for reopening universities and other educational institutions, curfew withdrawal, a stop to wholesale arrests and torture.
Earlier on Friday, the Detective Branch took three leaders鈥擭ahid Islam, Abu Baker Mazumdar, and Asif Mahmud鈥攐f the Students Protest Against Discrimination platform in their custody forcibly from Gonoshasthaya Nagar Hospital in the capital鈥檚 Dhanmondi area. They also picked up two other coordinators of the platform Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah on Saturday evening.
The Detective Branch also picked up another coordinator Nusrat Tabassum from her house in the capital鈥檚 Mirpur area on Sunday early morning.
The platform鈥檚 coordinator for Jahangirnagar University Arif Sohel was allegedly picked up by about 10 plainclothes men identifying themselves as members of the Criminal Investigation Department and Detective Branch from a rented house in the Aambagan area adjacent to the university campus.
None of the two agencies鈥� members confirmed Arif鈥檚 detention, however.聽聽
Protesting at the Arif Sohel being reportedly picked up, his university teachers under the banner of 鈥楾eachers Platform Against Oppression鈥� formed a human chain on the campus at about 1:00pm on the day.
The human chain was held near the Chhatra Janata Smriti Stambha monument, built on the campus to mark the sacrifice of lives during the anti-quota movement.
Pro-Awami League and pro-Bangladesh Nationalist Party teachers came together under the banner and demanded to know the whereabouts of Arif Sohel and other missing coordinators of the protesting student platform.
While addressing the human chain, pharmacy department professor Mafruhi Satter said, 鈥榃e want the whereabouts of Arif Sohel. We strongly condemn the countrywide law enforcers鈥� drive against students protesting for their logical demand.鈥�
Philosophy professor Raihan Rhyne said that students were killed countrywide and the law enforcers were now torturing them in their custody in the name of remand.
History professor Golam Rabbani and anthropology professor Saeed Ferdous, among others, also addressed the human chain.聽
The Jahangirnagar University unit of the Student Movement Against Discrimination also held a protest procession on the campus on the day demanding to know the whereabouts Arif Sohel and his release.
Students鈥� protests that began early July seeking reform in quotas in government jobs turned violent following an attack on protesters by the law enforcers and ruling party student body Bangladesh Chhatra League on July 16.
The resulting backlash prompted the government to launch a brutal crackdown on protesters, leaving more than 212 people killed till Sunday and thousands injured in clashes.
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan on Sunday said that 147 people died during the violence surrounding the quota reform protests in their primary counting.
The government shut down the internet, imposed a curfew, and called in the army to end the protests before arresting nearly 10,000 people, mostly leaders and activists of opposition political parties, on charges of carrying out vandalism and damaging some key infrastructure.
