11 ex-RU students still fight against conviction
Although four Rajshahi University (RU) teachers, convicted in a case filed over the August 2007 protests, received a presidential pardon, 11 former students have been struggling for nearly six years to overturn their conviction. In December 2007, a Rajshahi speedy trial court sentenced the students to three years’ rigorous imprisonment in a case filed on August 23, 2007 by the then acting registrar Prof Muhammad Shafi over violence on and around the campus the day before.
Clashes between police and students had erupted there, alongside other educational institutions in the country, from demonstrations protesting the actions of army personnel who beat three Dhaka University (DU) students and insulted a teacher at the DU gymnasium playground on August 20, 2007.
Following the beating, thousands of DU students took to the streets demanding an apology from the troops and withdrawal of an army camp, set up on the campus after a declaration of emergency.
During the clashes in RU, a rickshaw-puller was killed, around 200 people were injured, vehicles were torched and properties, including the vice-chancellor’s (VC) residence, were damaged.
Now on bail, the 11, in January 2008, filed an appeal against the conviction with the Rajshahi District and Sessions Judge’s Court, the hearing of which is still ongoing. The next hearing is scheduled for September 3.
The presidential pardon for Moloy Bhoumik, Dulal Chandra Biswas, Sayed Selim Reza Newton and Abdullah Al Mamun came on December 9, 2007, five days after a Rajshahi speedy trial court sentenced them to two years’ rigorous imprisonment.
They were charged for violating Emergency Power Rules 2007 by bringing out a silent procession on the campus on August 21, 2007.
On February 6, 2012, a parliamentary standing committee on the education ministry placed in the House a special report on the 2007 DU campus violence, recommending withdrawal of all cases filed against teachers, students and others over the violence.
The Daily Star recently talked to some of the 11 — Abu Sayem, Ayen Uddin, Dipayan Sarker, Mizanur Rahman, Sardar Ayaz, Azim Bin Kamal Uzzal, Shamim Ahmed, Shakhawat Hossain, Fakhrul Islam, Abdul Latif and Ataur Rahman.
They accused the RU authorities and the government of not assisting their efforts to get over the stigma attached to their conviction.
Both RU Pro-VC Prof Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan and Legal Cell Administrator Dr M Ahsanul Kabir informed that they would provide assistance if the 11 officially filed an appeal with them.
-With The Daily Star input
