Dhaka, July 3 (SocialNews.XYZ) As Bangladesh grapples with growing concerns over women's rights and campus safety, a dispute recently erupted at Dhaka University after female students were allegedly harassed while attempting to watch a football World Cup match on a giant screen, a report has stated.
Despite desperate attempts by Islami Chhatra Shibir - the student wing of radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami - to rebrand itself as a "women-friendly" organisation ahead of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) elections, it now faces a wave of misogyny allegations, exposing a stark contradiction between its carefully crafted image and the reality unfolding at Dhaka University, according to a report in 'Times of Bangladesh'.
Shibir members have been accused of harassing, restricting, and humiliating female students, with the latest flashpoint centring on opposition by the group's leaders to women watching World Cup matches.
“In defiance, female students united to protest. After a woman was allegedly harassed at the Shahidullah Hall ground during the Norway-France match, girls gathered en masse at the field to watch the games on Sunday to spectate the Argentina-Jordan match. Despite numerous complaints, the organisation has taken no internal action," the report mentioned.
Muhtasin Billah Emon, a student of the 2018–19 session, alleged that he and his companions were forced by a group of students to leave the field on the night of June 26, despite signing the official entry register.
He claimed that a female student accompanying them was subjected to harassment, with agitators questioning her presence and insisting that she leave immediately.
The report said that one of the accused is Md. Saju Mia, the Hall Union's Social Services Secretary, who was elected on the Shibir-backed panel.
Amid the growing controversy, a large number of female students gathered at the Shahidullah Hall field on the morning of June 28 to watch the Argentina–Jordan World Cup match in solidarity before submitting a memorandum to the proctor outlining three key demands.
This incident has drawn wider political criticism from other student leaders, with DUCSU executive member Hema Chakma, from the left-backed Pratirodh Parshad, condemning the DUCSU’s silence and alleging that those involved appeared to have close links with the top leadership of the student union, where Shibir-backed candidates hold maximum posts.
Meanwhile, Seema Akhter, vice president of the university unit of Bangladesh Chhatra Federation, denounced the incident as part of what she called a wider “politics of control.”
She criticised attempts to restrict women’s movement after sunset in the name of security, describing them as a reflection of patriarchal mentality that targets victims instead of holding offenders accountable, the Times of Bangladesh reported.
Akhter said that the DUCSU has failed to take action over recent harassment incidents and alleged that a coordinated campaign against women’s rights activists has intensified since July last year.
Source: IANS
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