Retired JnU professor Anowara Begum granted bail
A Dhaka court has granted bail to retired Jagannath University professor SM Anowara Begum who was sent to prison last Thursday in connection with a case filed over an attempted murder during the July mass uprising.
Human rights organisation Human Rights Forum Bangladesh (HRFB) had issued a statement yesterday, Sunday condemning the imprisonment of professor Anowara, who is over sixty years old.
Her lawyer appealed to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) Court of Dhaka seeking her bail. Following the hearing, magistrate Minhazur Rahman Khan granted her bail. Anowara Begum’s lawyer Obaidul Islam confirmed her bail to Prothom Alo.
The bail petition stated that Professor Anowara Begum is 70 years old and has served as a faculty member at Jagannath University for 35 years. She is a retired academic, a woman, and is in poor health. According to the Code of Criminal Procedure, she is entitled to be granted bail.
Professor Anowara Begum was arrested last Wednesday in connection with an attempted murder case filed by Sujon Molla, former general secretary of the Jagannath University unit of the student organisation Chhatra Dal. The case was lodged at Sutrapur Police Station in the capital.
According to a statement submitted to the court by Sutrapur police, on 19 July last year, shots were fired at protesters and Chhatra Dal activists during an anti-discrimination student-public demonstration near Star Hotel, close to Ray Saheb Bazar. The incident was allegedly instigated directly by pro-Awami League teachers of Jagannath University, and carried out by leaders and activists of the university’s Chhatra League.
As a result of the gunfire, Sujon Molla, general secretary of Jagannath University Chhatra Dal, was shot in the eye, causing severe bleeding from his left eye. He filed the case with Sutrapur Police Station on 16 February.
Anowara Begum is a valiant freedom fighter. She served as a professor in the Department of Political Science at Jagannath University. She was also a member of the Bangladesh Public Service Commission (PSC).