Classes and exams halted for activists of the banned Chhatra League in universities

She went to the campus for only one day after the fifth of August to take an exam, but on that very day she “fell victim to an attack.” She could not take the exam; instead, she became an accused in a case and had to spend twenty-seven days in jail. Claiming that she has not been able to attend any classes or exams for the last one and a half years, these were the words of Sumaiya Khatun (pseudonym), a third-year student of a public university.

“Everyone on campus knew that I was associated with the Chhatra League. So I had informed the department in advance that I would be coming to take the exam. But they told me that they would not be able to provide security. When I fell victim to the mob, I was taken to the police station. Later I was sent to jail in an explosives case related to the BNP office,” she said.

Ms. Khatun said that after getting bail from jail, she no longer tried to go to the university. Now her academic life itself is uncertain. “Suppose I am a criminal, or say I deserved some kind of punishment. Even if that were true, at least such a long time would not have been wasted. My age is not stopping. But I cannot finish my honors. I do not understand whether I should wait to resume my academic life at the university, or whether I should start anew by getting admitted somewhere else,” said this activist of the banned Chhatra League.

After the fall of the Awami League government in the student-public uprising in Bangladesh, many students like Sumaiya—mostly leaders and activists of the banned Chhatra League—have been alleging that they have not been able to attend classes or exams at the universities. Some of them have also been expelled from the universities on charges of attacking general students during the July movement. For many others, investigations are still pending for months. As a result, even one and a half years after the fall of the Sheikh Hasina government, it appears that many students’ academic activities remain suspended, even though none of them have been officially expelled from their universities.

Source: BBC