Dhaka, Feb 3 (bdnews24.com)—Dhaka University student Abu Bakar Siddique was planning a long vacation at home after his third year exams. Instead, his family were left grieving after his death on Wednesday morning.
Abu Bakar, a third year honours student of Islamic History, received severe head injuries during the clashes at F Rahman Hall between two Bangladesh Chhatra League factions in the very early hours of Tuesday.
The young student battled for over 32 hours at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital intensive care unit. The DMCH doctors declared him dead at 9:25am Wednesday.
Bakar was boarding in Room 404 of Sir AF Rahman Residential Hall.
At around 1am Tuesday morning, armed clashes sparked off between two Chhatra League factions over control of the hall. The two groups attacked and chased each other with machetes, clubs and hockey sticks.
They also lobbed flaming bottles filed with petrol and vandalised at least 20 rooms in the hall, witnesses said. Several rounds of gunfire were also heard, they said.
Armed police entered the hall at around 2am and forcibly dispersed the battling BCL factions. Police said they were forced to use 20 rounds of teargas shells to disperse them.
Police later arrested the president of the hall's BCL unit Sayeduzzaman Faruk and eight other activists of the Chhatra League.
Abu Bakar's family have said that he was not active in student politics, although a faction of Chhatra League claimed he was a member of the pro-ruling party student front.
Faruk claimed Bakar was a BCL activist and one of his supporters, but the rival faction's Mehdi Hasan, general secretary of the hall unit, said Bakar was not a Chhatra Leaguer.
Bakar's uncle Abul Kalam Azad told bdnews24.com on Wednesday his nephew was only involved with his studies.
FAMILY HAD HIGH HOPES
The honours student was the third of six children of Rustam Ali, a share-cropper of Modhupur in Tangail. Abbas, the eldest brother paid the educational expenses of Bakar and another brother by running a grocery shop in Golbari village in Modhupur.
Abbas said, "Abu Bakar was a serious student. He was determined to do well. He didn't even come home during Eid as he was studying hard to get a first class degree. Bakar told our mother that he'd come home after taking his fifth semester finals in March and spend a long holiday with us then."
Abbas said he wanted the brother to do well and be a university teacher eventually.
Bakar's mother was told that her son had received minor injuries, Abbas said, but she had been concerned for her son all the same. Rustam, the father was supposed to arrive in Dhaka Wednesday, but the son died before he could reach the capital.
"Abu Bakar was a member of Bandhon—a voluntary blood donors group at Dhaka University. Bandhon members donated Bakar with seven bags of blood when he was hospitalised," Abbas said.
It is surmised that tear gas shells may have hit Bakar at close range. A duty doctor at ICU told bdnews24.com Tuesday morning: "Bakar was in a coma since he was injured. An operation was carried out early Tuesday at around 4:45am and blood clots were removed from his brain."
Food minister Dr Abdur Razzak, who is the MP from Bakar's home constituency, and DU vice chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique went to see the critically injured student at DMCH on Tuesday night.
The minister told reporters there: "Abu Bakar has been injured in violence by some unruly students. We don't want students to engage in such political activism, which injured their fellow students and friends in this manner. We want healthy student politics, which should be pursued peacefully alongside their studies."
bdnews24.com/gma/corr/wz/rah/1210h.
