Protesters condemn harassment of Prof Asif Nazrul by Chhatra League

Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury has asked Chhatra League to make a public apology for insulting Dhaka University teacher Professor Dr Asif Nazrul over a Facebook post.

Speaking at a protest program in front of the National Museum, Dr Zafrullah asked the prime minister to withdraw the cases filed against students for demanding safe roads and protesting against the visit of the Indian prime minister.

“Then you’ll not have to see what Asif Nazrul has anticipated. Otherwise, it’ll not be surprising if anything like the Kabul situation happens here,” Dr Zafrullah said, describing him as one of the most acclaimed teachers in Bangladesh.

Prof Asif Nazrul on August 16 wrote that if the elections were fair, Bangladesh would witness a situation similar to the chaotic scenes at Kabul airport a couple of days back, when hundreds were seen trying to escape following the Taliban takeover.

Following this, leaders and activists of Chhatra League, the ruling party’s student wing, locked his office at the university’s law department on Wednesday.

The locked front door of Dr Asif Nazrul's office at Dhaka University’s law department on Wednesday, August 18, 2021 Bangla Tribune

Also Read - DU Chhatra League demands trial of Prof Asif Nazrul for treason

They also pasted posters on the wall outside the room and painted them to demand the professor’s trial for treason, terming him an agent of Jamaat-Shibir and the Pakistani spy agency ISI. They accused him of supporting militancy and the Taliban.

The same day, activists of Bangladesh Muktijuddha Mancha burned the effigy of Prof Asif Nazrul at Raju Bhaskarja on the campus and demanded his expulsion from the university for seditious activities.

Moreover, an FIR was lodged with Shahbagh police station by Chhatra League central committee Human Resource Secretary Nahid Hasan Shahin. Police said they would take action following approval of the cyber crime department.

The DU authorities later unlocked the room on Thursday.

From the same protest rally on Friday, Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna asked Dhaka University proctor to file a general diary against the miscreants.

Nurul Haque Nur, former vice president of Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu), said despite the constitution protecting freedom of speech, the “goons” of the Chhatra League had locked the office room of Prof Asif Nazrul just because of a two-line social media post. He demanded that those involved in the act be brought to book.

Ganasamhati Andolon Chief Coordinator Zonayed Saki in his remarks said Prof Asif Nazrul’s Facebook post had scared the government.

“The current government seems to have foreseen its own future in the chaos in Afghanistan. Otherwise, why would they harass Asif Nazrul like this?” he quipped.