The caretaker government banned the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the Awami League, designating it as a terrorist organization following demands from the anti-discrimination student movement.

The day after the ban, the parents of Abrar Fahad, a victim of BCL violence, shared their thoughts. Rokeya Khatun and Barkat Ullah spoke to reporters from their homes in the town of Kushtia, offering insight into their fight for justice.

Rokeya recalled the last moments with her son five years ago: “Wash your hands and face, pray and eat the food I prepared for you. » On the morning of October 6, 2019, she personally accompanied him to departure, an act now filled with grief.

“Last night I saw on the news that the Chhatra League had been banned. If the Chhatra League was not activated under a dictatorial regime, it would not be so dangerous. That night they brutally tortured and killed my son. The whole nation knows it,” she lamented.

Reflecting on the five years since Abrar’s death, Rokeya expressed hope despite her grief: “Just as the people of this country were with us before, they will be with us now. Those who killed Abrar have not yet been brought to justice. the accused are still at large, and I demand that those who instigated the Chhatra League to commit the murder should also be brought to justice.

“Before August 5, 2024, thousands of mothers like me lost their children. The government must ensure justice for every murder. Only a mother understands the pain of losing a child.”

Barkat Ullah echoed his wife’s sentiments, highlighting the current lack of justice: “The trial for the murder of my son is not yet over. Many others involved in my son’s murder, besides the Chhatra League, have not been charged. I demand action against anyone. who commits injustice and oppression against ordinary students.

Abrar Fahad was brutally murdered on the night of October 6, 2019 by Chhatra League leaders and activists in the Sher-e-Bangla hall of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), where he was second-year student in the department. of electrical and electronic engineering.