A group of students from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology has placed an appeal before the prime minister for the safety of their lives as a barrage of veiled life threats against them kept flooding social media particularly from handles and accounts known as mouthpiece affiliated with extremist and radical outfits.
Even Basherkella, that held record of spreading hate speech and communal attacks, associated with a dreaded outfit Jamaat-e-Islami, launched a targeted attack with photos names of the students circulated on different platforms including Telegram channels.
Linking the pattern similar to previous attacks on two BUET students who were vocal against these outfits in the past, they added “we have every reason to take these threats seriously”
The students made the demand at a press conference held at the Shaheed Minar on BUET campus on Friday as they earlier submitted a complaint with the vice chancellor compiling screenshot of threats and bullying against them.
Days back, they submitted a written complaint with the vice chancellor where they mentioned names of 21 students who faced similar threats against them.
Even for taking part in human chain against the fundamentalist forces triggered verbal attack on us in the past what is clearly a breach in freedom of expression, they added.
In two separate attacks in 2013, two BUET students who were leaders of Bangladesh Student League BUET unit were stabbed brutally with one killed and another survived reportedly in machete attacks by Shibir activists as both of them were involved in creating awareness against these fundamentalist group, they recalled.
Before attacks on Tonmoy Ahmed and Arif Raihan Dip, same pages Basherkella and Amar Desh ran a hate campaign branding them “enemies of Islam” followed by gruesome machete attacks, they told.
While Dip died of wounds after hacked inside the dormitory by a fellow student who ascribed to radical ideology, an assassination attempt on Tonmoy was made as he had been stabbed brutally reportedly by Shibir activists back in 2013.
Recalling theses attacks, they told “a certain pattern emerges through attacks on our senior fellows. Both were vocal against militancy and fundamentalism and targeted by these groups. Same Basherkella has targeted us as posts with our details already been circulated through different communication channels like telegram channel by these groups”.
Citing reports of a secretive meeting of 34 activists of Shibir including current students of BUET at a remote place, they added “it clearly shows that despite apparent ban on student politics, they attended for the students attended a meeting where charges of anti state activities were slapped upon them.”
“Even in some facebook groups, we have found posts vilifying us and some of our minority students were targeted. Posts in these groups show students are using this space to spread the message of militants, further indication of involvement of these activists”.