Student orgs hold govt responsible for custodial death of writer Mushtaq

Following the custodial death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed several left-leaning student organisations brought out protest procession in the capital on Thursday midnight.

The left-leaning student organisations held the government responsible for the death of writer Mushtaq Ahmed in-custody.

Writer Mushtaq Ahmed, who was arrested last May in a case filed under Digital Security Act amid the Covid-19 crisis, died in police custody at around 8:30pm on Thursday.

Mushtaq suffered a heart attack inside his cell at Kashimpur High Security Prison on Thursday evening, the jail authorities claimed.

The 53-year-old writer was transported to Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College Hospital, but he was declared dead on arrival, senior jail superintendent Md Gias Uddin said.

The procession was brought out from the Teacher-Student Centre of Dhaka University around 12:00am and paraded through Shahbagh and Paribagh intersection.

The protesting students organised a rally at the feet of Raju Memorial Sculpture around 1:00am and announced sit-ins programme at Shahbagh square from 10:30am today (Friday).

Former secretary to Bangladesh Chhatra Union Liton Nandi, incumbent general secretary Dipak Shil, central president of Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal (BaSad) – The Socialist Party of Bangladesh – Masud Rana, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front (Marxist) central president Al Quaderi were present in the procession.

Police tried to stop the protesting procession twice – near the Shahbagh intersection and in front of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. But the procession marched on despite those hindrances.

The students chanted slogans ‘Why Mushtaq had to die, we want an answer.’ The banner said ‘State is the killer of Mushtaq.’