Student in Bangladesh jailed over social media post on July uprising

Dhaka, July 3 A madrasa student in Bangladesh was assaulted for a social media post criticising the 2024 July uprising, as locals and students in Tongi in Gazipur district near Dhaka cut off his hair before handing him over to the police, local media reported on Thursday.

Confirming the development, Tongi West Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Iskander Habibur Rahman told leading Bangladeshi newspaper 'The Daily Star' that the student allegedly posted an objectionable remark on Facebook regarding the July uprising.

Rahman mentioned that the incident occurred on the campus of the Tongi branch of Tamirul Millat Kamil Madrasa on Tuesday evening. In addition, a case has been registered against the student.

Reports suggest that the police produced the student before a local court on Wednesday afternoon, after which the court ordered his imprisonment.

"We have handed him over to the Tongi West Police Station considering the demands and safety," said Saidul Islam, General Secretary of the madrasa's student council, while addressing the local media.

"Since the matter is sensitive, we have handed him over to the police in the interest of maintaining law and order. The police will take further action in accordance with the law," said madrasa Principal Hifazur Rahman.

Meanwhile, a group of 88 expatriate journalists, writers, researchers, cultural and rights activists have raised grave concern over the "continued torture of journalists and suppression of free speech" in Bangladesh under the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government.

In a joint statement, the group alleged that efforts are being made to suppress freedom of speech under the Yunus administration by "imposing various official and unofficial controls" on both mass media and social media, denouncing it as "shameful and repulsive".

Last year, starting July 1, Bangladesh witnessed a violent student movement demanding reforms of the quota system in government jobs, which led to the overthrow of the democratically-elected government led by former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

The unceremonious exit of Hasina last August following the violent student protests was globally seen as a major setback to the democratic set-up in the country, reportedly ushering in a period of severe human rights abuses and suppression of freedom of speech under the Yunus-led interim government.

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