Judge’s comments on Secretariat attack case: Entire Bangladesh now on life support

Staff Correspondent

A court has sent four students arrested in a vandalism case to prison for protesting the theft of students’ bodies after the plane crash at Milestone College and demanding the resignation of the advisor and secretary.

The judge’s comments during the hearing of the case on Thursday sparked a new discussion about the country’s current reality. “Bangladesh has no life. The entire country is already on life support,” the judge said.

The comments came during the hearing of the case in the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Jamshed Alam on Thursday, July 24, which highlights the current picture of the country in terms of political and social reality.

The judge made the comment during the bail hearing of four students after their arrest.

Three of the four accused are students of the country’s top educational institutions. One of them is a second-year student of Dhaka University, and the other is an HSC examinee. The defense lawyers told the court that they went to the secretariat premises not due to anyone’s provocation, but out of emotion.

The defense lawyers also said that the accused students are talented and have a future. One of them has an exam coming up. There are also questions about whether they were directly involved in the vandalism at the secretariat. In such a situation, sending them to prison until the investigation is completed could be seriously detrimental to their future.

Abu Sufian, a student of Dhaka University, told the court, “I did not go to the secretariat. I was arrested on my way home from the university.” He was the co-coordinator of the ‘July Movement’ and also said he was never associated with the Chhatra League.

Although the newspaper Amar Desh published news claiming that Abu Sufian was a Chhatra League leader, an investigation by fact checkers proved it to be false.

Judge Jamshed Alam said at the time, “Those who played a role in the July Movement are now victims of a conspiracy? Their lives are already over. While Bangladesh has no life, the entire country is now on life support.”

The judge said, “The Secretariat is the head of the state. How can the body survive if the head is affected? It can be said that there is no law and order in the country now. We are going through a transition period.”

He also said, “It takes three generations to build a state. Our generation will not see a good state, our children may see it.”