A disturbing incident at Chittagong University has sparked outrage as Assistant Professor Hasan Muhammad Roman Shuvo was violently attacked by a group of students led by Abdullah Al Noman, office secretary of the Chittagong University Central Students’ Union. Video footage shared on social media shows Noman and his companions dragging the teacher and forcing him into the proctor’s office.
The attack, described as a deliberate act of public violence by The Daily Star, has raised concerns about campus governance and the ethical decline of student leadership. Critics are particularly troubled by Noman’s involvement, as his role as an elected student leader should have been to prevent chaos, not initiate it.
Despite the clear evidence, the university administration has not taken any visible disciplinary action, prompting criticism for their inaction. Noman’s justification that he was acting defensively due to alleged threats against him has been widely dismissed as unsubstantiated.
Universities are expected to uphold due process, not resort to mob justice. The incident has led to questions about the safety of faculty and students, highlighting the potential normalization of violence in campus politics if no action is taken against the perpetrators.
Invoking historical events to justify the assault has been condemned as a distortion of facts, undermining the values of movements against oppression. Urgent action is needed to address the situation, as failure to hold student leaders accountable for violence risks turning universities into places of fear rather than learning.
