On July 31, 2024, Bangladeshi police beat university students as they were engaged in a protest march in Jessore city. Several students were injured and at least six students were temporarily detained.

The students had gathered in Jessore city for a “March for Justice,” demanding the implementation of a nine-point program of demands made by the anti-discrimination student movement. Police prevented the students from marching, including by extensively searching them, and later beat them with batons as they marched past Jessore’s municipal building.

Scholars at Risk is concerned about the use of force by police and the detention of students in apparent retaliation for the nonviolent exercise of the rights to freedom of expression and association. State authorities have a responsibility not to interfere with the right to freedom of expression and association, so long as they are exercised peacefully and responsibly. Such actions undermine academic freedom and democratic society generally.

Sources:
*SAR identified this incident in data made publicly available by the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED)
https://www.thedailystar.net/news/bangladesh/news/police-block-march-justice-3666581
https://www.tbsnews.net/bangladesh/police-detain-6-students-charge-batons-protesters-jashore-907336
https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/nation/353207/police-clampdown-on-student-protesters-in-jessore