From Biswajit to Nahidul: A bloody tale that sees no end
The lives of Nahid Hasan and Md Mursalin – a delivery guy and the other a salesman – were cut short following last week's clashes between Dhaka College students and New Market traders.
Both of them were killed in broad daylight, surrounded by hundreds, but no one knew who did it and why until recently when photos and video footage of the incident helped law enforcers investigate and identify those responsible.
According to police sources, the killers are all students of Dhaka College and are reportedly involved with Bangladesh Chhatra League's (BCL) politics but no arrests have been made so far against the cases filed over the clashes.
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Nahid, a delivery man for Dlink Courier Service, died on April 19.
A viral video of that day shows a man, wearing a helmet, brutally hacking an unconscious Nahid to death before being stopped by another helmet wielding man.
Whereas, Mursalin succumbed to his injuries on 21 April at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
The 24-year-old store staff got injured a day earlier, on the second day of the clashes between the students and shopkeepers.
These two are the latest editions to the long list of people who lost their lives to individuals who are too blinded by power and greed, who have lost all sense of humanity and compassion.
In 2012, it was Biswajit, a tailor. Standing alone on an old Dhaka street as BCL men thought he was a Jamaat-Shibir man and hacked him to death.
When Biswajit was killed, it was first said he was a Jamaat-Shibir man.
Then the government bucked the idea that Chhatra League men were involved in the killing.
But then the media – and there lies the strength and need for a free media - exposed the identities of the killers. The government slowly backed off.
Then it was Buet student Abrar Fahad.
However, this time, no one from the ruling party denied BCL's involvement in the brutal murder of Abrar.
After the killing of Abrar, 11 leaders and activists of the ruling party student wing were expelled from the organisation's Buet unit and later were arrested.
The Buet VC, responding to the waves of countrywide protests and demonstrations, announced that the perpetrators will be expelled from the university.
Expulsion either from Chhatra League or from universities for criminal activities is nothing new. We can cite numerous examples of expulsions.
Such expulsions have hardly brought any positive changes and the recent killings are a burning example of that.
Back in 2017, the High Court in the verdict on appeals filed by convicts in the Biswajit murder against lower court judgement focused on some root causes for polluted student politics.
In the verdict, the apex court hit said that some political leaders patronise youths who indulge in criminal activities including extortion, arms and drug trade, murder and violence.
Just a year later, BCL activists beat school students who were agitating on the streets for road safety, following the death of two students by a reckless bus driver.
No action was taken against the BCL men who attacked the students to foil the demonstration that aimed to establish safer roads.
Such violent incidents however continued, resulting in around 150 deaths in last 10 years, according to media reports.
The victims include at least 60 Chhatra League leaders and activists killed in internal feuds. And almost the same numbers are children and ordinary people.
When analysed, the violent incidents reflect that illegal income and establish dominance over educational campuses and city areas have been the root causes of almost all the violence.
Unless we can get rid of the corrupt system that to date remains functional, there will be no respite from such loss of innocent lives.
