Teachers make a human chain to protest against the murder of Abrar Fahad, a student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology in Dhaka October 9, 2019. — Reuters pic
Responding to the protests, Hasina said the government would not interfere if any university decided to ban political groups. She said she had ordered her party’s student wing to expel anyone involved in the “extremely cruel” killing. Police said they had arrested 13 leaders of the Chhatra League - the student wing of Hasina’s Bangladesh Awami League - whose members have been accused of beating and killing Fahad by his fellow students and family.
In an Oct. 5 post on Facebook, Fahad had criticised a government move to share water with India, after Dhaka and New Delhi announced the signing of several deals, including allowing India to draw water from Bangladesh’s Feni river. “Freedom of speech is a human right,” the UN said, adding “nobody should be harassed, tortured or killed for exercising it”.The students are demanding that political groups be banned from campuses.