A Bangladeshi student leader, Shamim Ahmed, was brutally beaten to death on his university campus in Dhaka, reportedly as revenge for leading attacks on protesters during the uprising that ousted former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last month.
Ahmed was a top member of the student wing of Hasina’s Awami League party at Jahangirnagar University.
According to police officer Abu Bakkar, Ahmed was attacked by unknown assailants on Wednesday night for his role in leading an attack on student demonstrators at the campus in mid-July.
As Bakkar stated, “We took him to the Gonoshasthaya Hospital, where he later died.” Hospital staff confirmed that Ahmed succumbed to his injuries after being brought in with multiple wounds.
Tragically, Ahmed’s death marks the second killing of an Awami League student wing leader this month. Abdullah Al Masud, another leader, was beaten to death by a mob in Rajshahi on September 8, after being accused of organizing counter-demonstrations against the student-led uprising.
The violence surrounding Hasina’s ousting has been devastating, with over 450 people killed in the lead-up to her departure. Her government faced allegations of widespread human rights abuses, including mass detentions and extrajudicial killings. Since her exile in India, many of her party members and appointees have been arrested or removed from power.
In a disturbing trend, at least 25 journalists with ties to Hasina’s regime have been taken into custody since her ousting. The interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize laureate Mohammed Yunus, faces significant challenges in addressing the ongoing violence and ensuring accountability for past abuses.
