Teachers, students face punishment over AL links
More than 20 public universities in Bangladesh have taken disciplinary action against academics and students over their alleged links to former prime minister Sheikh Hasina and her Awami League party, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on Wednesday.
The rights group said scores of teachers had faced arbitrary punishment, including dismissal, suspension and restrictions on teaching, while hundreds of students allegedly affiliated with or supportive of the Awami League faced possible expulsion.
In a statement, HRW said such actions, if taken against individuals for their peaceful political beliefs or without due process, would violate their rights to freedom of expression and association under international human rights law.
The alleged reprisals stem from accusations that some academics were complicit in violence during Hasina’s Awami League government, which was toppled by student-led protests in 2024.
Others were accused of engaging in “subversive” activities in support of the party or discriminating against students who wear Islamic clothing, the organisation said.
HRW said the measures against students included expulsion, cancellation of examination certificates and restrictions on entering university campuses, potentially depriving them of their right to education.
The organisation said it had interviewed more than a dozen affected teachers, examined university correspondence and reviewed a televised discussion and a social media video.
“Bangladesh has a long history of political debate in its universities, and only autocrats should fear such discourse, not a government formed following student protests,” said Meenakshi Ganguly, HRW’s deputy Asia director.
She said Bangladesh should move away from past repression rather than repeat it when political power changes hands.
Ganguly also warned that retaliatory action against people who peacefully supported the previous government would undermine freedom of speech and assembly.
“Universities should be places where people are free to express their views, not places where support is enforced for the government of the day,” she said.
