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A group of Dhaka University students on Saturday painted over and distorted graffiti of freedom fighter Maoist leader Sirajul Huq Sikder, better known as Siraj Sikder, on the wall adjacent to the central library of Dhaka University.

They also painted over graffiti of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the same wall.

Over a hundred students of the university marched from different halls on Saturday at around 12:30am and gathered at the base of the Anti-Violence Raju Memorial Sculpture in front of Teacher-Student Centre for a brief rally.

The protest rally demanded arrest of Meghmallar Bosu, president of the Dhaka University unit of the Bangladesh Students’ Union.

The students described Meghmallar Bosu as a ‘Red Terrorist’ and issued a 24-hour ultimatum for his arrest.

At the rally, Musaddiq Ali Ibne Mohammad, a student of the Department of Bangla, said, ‘Whenever there is instability in the country, you will find involvement of these Red Terrorists in it.’

Mahin Sarker, a former coordinator of the Student Movement Against Discrimination Student, said that since independence, extrajudicial killing had been linked to ‘Red Terror’.

The closure of DUCSU in 1992 was also orchestrated by these ‘Red Terrorists’, he said.

‘From this Raju Memorial Sculpture, we demand arrest of Red Terrorist Meghmallar Basu within 24 hours.’ said Mahin.

After the rally, the students threw shoes at and erased graffiti depicting Siraj Sikder in the Central Library area. They chanted slogans such as ‘Set fire to the throne of red terror together’ and ‘hit Meghmallar’s cheeks with shoes’.  

Earlier, on Friday night, Meghmallar Bosu posted on his verified Facebook ID a statement saying ‘The only option is red terror.’

Regarding his Facebook post Meghmallar Bosu, president of Dhaka University Students’ Union, told ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· that those who opposed the War of Independence were the ones who erased the graffiti of freedom fighter Siraj Sikder.

‘In my Facebook post, I mentioned ‘defensive violence. Our opposition is attacking us covertly,’ he said.

Later, in another Facebook post, he expressed regret to his colleagues for his Facebook statement. Siraj Sikder was observed in the capital on Saturday.

Siraj was one of the organisers of the War of Independence in 1971 and a founder of Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party.

In 1975, he was killed in the custody of the Jatiya Rakkhi Bahini, an elite para-military force formed on February 8, 1972 by the government led by the country’s founding president Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.