Home
+
Published : 15 Apr 2026, 03:10 PM
A former Bangladesh Chhatra League leader at Dhaka University has described a "culture of abuse" in residential hall “guest rooms”, where juniors were allegedly summoned and punished by seniors in the name of "disciplining" them.
The account was posted on Facebook on Tuesday night by Arif Ishtiak Rahul, a student of the 2020-21 session in the Department of Anthropology and a former deputy office secretary of Chhatra League, who lived at Sir AF Rahman Hall.
In the post, Rahul said he had stayed silent for years about one of the “most terrifying nights” of his life, when he was allegedly assaulted in a hall guest room in April 2022. He wrote that he had held back at the time because any public disclosure would have put pressure on Chhatra League and made it impossible for him to remain in the hall.
Rahul was among 128 students expelled by Dhaka University last year over allegations of involvement in attacks on protesters during the July 2024 Uprising.
Chhatra League was later banned by the previous interim government, which labelled it a terrorist organisation over allegations of abuse and killings of students during the anti-discrimination movement.
‘First Pahela Baishakh at Dhaka University’
Rahul said Apr 14, 2022, had been his first Pahela Baishakh at Dhaka University, a day he had long looked forward to as someone involved in progressive cultural activities. He wrote that he had spent the days leading up to the festival visiting the Faculty of Fine Arts and had bought a new Panjabi the night before to attend the Mangal Shobhajatra, the traditional parade to usher in the Bengali New Year.
“I have a few things to say. Memories of the most terrifying night of my life. I have waited several years to say these things. Had I said them while the [Awami League] was in power, university journalists would have seized on them. Chhatra League would have come under pressure. So I didn't say anything. But I now feel it is necessary.”
“Apr 14, 2022. My first Pahela Baishakh at Dhaka University. As a cultural activist of the progressive stream, this day is no less joyful for me than the two Eids. From 2018 to 2021, I took part in the Mangal Shobhajatra every year and each time I thought that one day I would study at Dhaka University and join the procession from my hall. It was, in a sense, a dream for me.”
He continued, “That day came in 2022. I was very excited. I had not yet brought a bike to campus. From the beginning of April, I used to walk to Charukola every day, look around at the work, and take pictures. The night before Pahela Baishakh, I even went to Aziz Super Market and bought a Panjabi to wear to the procession.”
He said controversy around the procession at the time, including criticism from what he described as reactionary fundamentalist groups, had only made him more determined to take part.
Describing the events of that day, Rahul wrote: “On the 14th of April, I woke up very early in the morning — at the kind of hour that makes it easier to go to the procession. At the time I lived in Room 103. It was a common room, and around 20 to 22 of us stayed there.”
“In a hurry to reach Charukola, I quickly showered, put on my new Panjabi and had just stepped out of the room when I saw Sazzad Bhai coming down the stairs. The stairs were right in front of our room. He was wearing an orange Panjabi. Very much in a Baishakh mood.”
“Seeing him, I stood by the door. When he came up to the door, I greeted him and said, ‘Bhai, can I take a picture with you?’ Sazzad Bhai said, ‘It’s dark here, the picture won’t come out well. Let’s go outside.’
At the hall gate, he said, another leader, “Moon bhai”, was also present, and the three of them ended up taking a photograph together. Rahul said the incident appeared ordinary at the time, but later turned into one of the reasons cited against him.
Called Back to the Hall
Rahul wrote that after spending the day at the celebrations, he began feeling unwell in the evening and stayed away from his own hall to avoid having to attend guest room that night.
He said he then began receiving repeated calls from hall mates and eventually answered one from a student identified as Manna, who allegedly told him seniors were putting pressure on others because they could not find him and asked him to return quickly.
Rahul said he went back to the hall and reported to Room 108, where a guest room was being held. There, he wrote, other students were forced out and he realised he was about to face what was known as a “single guest room” alone.
“I started feeling a bit scared. By then the cooking was finished. The phone was in my hand. Then Manna called. One call after another. I think he called 25 times in 10 minutes. Seeing so many calls, I realised something very serious had happened. There was no way I could avoid answering, so I picked up.”
“As soon as I answered, Manna asked in a tearful voice, ‘Rahul, where are you?’ I said, ‘I’m at Ekattor Hall, why?’ He said, ‘The bhaiyas are pressuring everyone a lot because of you. Please come back to the hall quickly.’”
He continued, “They were pressuring everyone because of me. What choice did I have but to go? So I went. Guest room was sitting in Room 108. Following the rules of guest room, I put on a formal shirt from Room 103 and went to Room 108. I entered and greeted them. The heroes of guest room were all furious. As soon as I arrived, they told everyone to leave the room. But no one left me alone. They beat everyone out of the room. I understood then that I was going to face a single guest room.”
‘They Read Out My Offences’
In his Facebook post, Rahul alleged that 15 to 20 immediate seniors questioned and assaulted him while he remained silent, following the unofficial rules of guest room.
“According to guest room rules, you cannot answer back to seniors. If you do, you are in trouble. So I stayed silent. By then there had already been several rounds of slaps. They kept hitting me with pillows. Whoever could, hit me however they could. I just stood there.”
Rahul wrote that he was then told the list of “offences” for which he was being abused.
“They read out my chargesheet. The offences were: 1. From whom did I take permission to go to the Mangal Shobhajatra? 2. Why did I take a picture with Sazzad Bhai? 3. Why did I say to Moon Bhai, ‘You come too’?”
“Until then, amid the beating, I had not even had time to think about why they were hitting me. Hearing the charges, I understood that I was getting a single guest room for going to the Mangal Shobhajatra and for taking a picture with Sazzad bhai.”
“At one point, someone switched off the room light. Another person turned on a mobile flash and slapped me. I could not remain standing and fell awkwardly to the floor. While I was lying there, three or four more people came and started hitting me. Someone kicked me, someone pressed me with their feet, someone struck me like a football.”
“A little later they turned the light back on and told me to stand up. I tried. I couldn’t. Until then I had not fully felt the pain. At that point it became unbearable. There was a burning sensation below my right eye. I had been kicked so hard in the waist that I could neither sit nor stand properly. Somehow I managed to sit up. Because I could not stand, they mocked me with slurs.”
He also alleged that his phone was searched in an attempt to find grounds to brand him a member of Islami Chhatra Shibir and expel him from the hall.
"They found nothing. The only thing they found was some pages opened with my ID. One of them was in the name of Khairuzzaman Liton. Before the 2018 election, I used that page to campaign for Awami League’s development narrative. Pages in the names of big leaders get better reach, so I had opened one in Khairuzzaman Liton’s name.”
“There was more questioning about why I had opened a page in Khairuzzaman Liton’s name. I do not remember whether they hit me at that point. My physical condition was getting worse. Blood had already clotted under my eye.”
Rahul said that as his condition worsened, he was eventually taken to hospital by two students. He wrote that after receiving treatment, he was sent back to the hall, where he then had to go through another round of guest room before being ordered to leave the hall for seven days as additional punishment.
‘I Kept It Hidden’
Rahul said he had not told many people about the episode, including his family, because publicising it would have made it impossible for him to remain in hall politics.
He wrote that those who assaulted him had known he would stay quiet, and claimed that he had experienced not just one such episode, but eight separate “single guest room” punishments.
“I did not tell many people about such a big incident. Not even at home. Do you know why? If it had become public, it would have been major news, and the entire blame would have fallen on Chhatra League. If I had sought justice from any senior, it would have created a stir. I would have become an eyesore to the hall seniors. I would not have been able to stay in the hall.”
“If I could not stay in the hall, I could not do Chhatra League politics. If my family had known, they would not have let me stay in the hall for even a moment. Those who abused me knew that no matter how much they beat me, I would keep the matter hidden. So they hit me again and again. I have told the story of one night here — but I have memories of eight such single guest rooms.”
