Demonstrations and protests were staged on the Dhaka University campus by progressive student organisations on Friday demanding justice for writer Mushtaq Ahmed, who died on Thursday night in police custody.
Protesters have blocked the Shahbagh intersection in the capital, blaming the state for Mushtaq's death and demanding the repeal of the Digital Security Act (DSA) under which he was arrested and held in police custody since May of 2020.
The demonstration began with a rally in front of Dhaka University's Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), at the base of Raju Memorial Sculpture around 11:00am on Friday.
The rally marched through Shahbagh and Paribagh before heading towards Shahbagh again displaying various placards demanding justice for Mushtaq and abolition of the DSA.
Protesting leaders and activists of progressive and left-wing student organisations including Bangladesh Students' Union, Socialist Students' Front (Marxist), Revolutionary Students Unity and Bangladesh Students' Federation then took a position at the Shahbagh intersection around 11:30am, creating a blockade there for about an hour.
The blockade caused huge traffic congestion at the crossing and nearby routes.
Socialist Students' Front (Marxist) General Secretary Nasiruddin Prince in his speech during the demonstration claimed that Mushtaq died due to the excessive torture he had to endure in custody.
"His only crime was that in April last year, he, through his write-up, exposed all the looting and corruption that had taken place in Bangladesh during the Covid-19 pandemic. He was tortured brutally in jail. Mushtaq applied for bail six times but his pleas were rejected every time," he said.
General secretary of Bangladesh Students' Federation Zahid Sujon said, "Writer Mushtaq was held in jail for nine months. His bail was denied even though he was ill and his health condition was deteriorating."
"The government is currently in such a state that now it's denying the rights of the people," he added.
Writer Mushtaq Ahmed – arrested last May in a case filed under Digital Security Act amid the Covid-19 crisis – died in police custody at around 8:30pm on Thursday.
Mushtaq suffered a heart attack inside his cell at Kashimpur High Security Prison on Thursday evening, it was learnt. As he was transported to Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College Hospital, but there he was declared dead on arrival, said Senior Jail Superintendent Md Gias Uddin said.
The 53-year-old writer was behind bars since May last year following his arrest in a case started by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
On 20 August last year, he was shifted to the Kashimpur prison, Gias Uddin said.
Md Sharif, a doctor at Shaheed Tajuddin Medical College Hospital's emergency department, said "Mushtaq was brought dead at the hospital. However, the exact cause of his death can be confirmed once the autopsy is done."
"Mushtaq's body will be handed over to his family on Friday after the completion of the autopsy," Gias Uddin also added.
Earlier, RAB arrested Mushtaq, who was also a businessman, and cartoonist Ahmed Kabir Kishore last year on charges of spreading disinformation against the government on social media.
Calls for Mushtaq's release were widespread and sustained throughout his time in prison. Soon after his arrest, more than 300 dignitaries in Bangladesh issued a joint statement demanding his release, alongside cartoonist Ahmed Kishore.
Amnesty International reiterated the demand in a statement as recently as January, saying the duo (Kishore and Mushtaq) had been arrested "solely for the peaceful exercise of their right to freedom of expression."
