SAR’s Academic Freedom Monitoring Project investigates and reports attacks on higher education with the aim of raising awareness, generating advocacy, and increasing protection for scholars, students, and academic communities. Starting July 1, 2026, SAR no longer publishes reports for the incidents that it records. SAR continues to monitor and record incidents that will be used in the annual Free to Think report. This page provides a record of incidents reported up to that date. Learn more about the Academic Freedom Monitoring Project.

Date of Incident: July 15, 2024

Attack Types: Killings, Violence, Disappearances

Institution(s):Jahangirnagar University

Region & Country:Southern Asia | Bangladesh

New or Ongoing:New Incident

On July 15, 2024, a group of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists, led by the president of Jahangirnagar University’s (JU) BCL branch, attacked a group of students demonstrating as part of the quota reform movement.

The quota reform movement was a set of widespread student protests that began on the campus of the University of Dhaka, after a June 5, 2024 ruling by the High Court of Bangladesh reinstating a quota system – previously abolished in 2018 – which allocated government jobs to certain favored groups. Under the system, 30% of government positions went to people who had fought in Bangladesh’s 1971 war of independence from Pakistan and their family members, creating a shortage of sought-after positions for others. The protests ultimately led to the resignation of Bangladesh’s prime minister Sheikh Hasina and the establishment of a new interim government.

On the evening of July 15, a group of JU students began a protest procession. As they reached Rabindranath Tagore hall, a group of BCL activists, led by the president of the JU Unit, Aktaruzzaman Sohel, attacked the demonstrators. Several media sources reported that BCL attackers sexually assaulted female students. The attack led to clashes that injured around 70 students, including 20 who went to the hospital with serious injuries.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about violent attacks on campus by students against other students in retaliation for their exercise of their rights to freedom of association and expression. Students must refrain from violence, especially on campus, and university authorities must take reasonable measures to ensure safe living conditions for students. In addition to harm to the immediate victims, violent attacks on students undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
https://www.newagebd.net/post/Country/240233/ju-hall-provost-resigns-after-attack-on-protesting-students
https://www.thedailystar.net/campus/news/quota-reform-protesters-attacked-bcl-ju-hall-provost-resigns-3657286
https://en.prothomalo.com/bangladesh/local-news/k74yutyoy1
https://www.newagebd.net/post/country/240267/ju-quota-protesters-besiege-vc-residence-over-bcl-attack
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/352239/dozens-of-quota-reform-protesters-injured-in-night