A violent clash broke out among students of three departments at Begum Rokeya University (BRUR) in Rangpur, northern Bangladesh, over a football match — leaving at least 11 students injured, two of them critically. The university administration has expelled eight students in connection with the incident.
The clash took place around 8 p.m. on Monday (October 13) near the main gate of the university among students of the Marketing, Physics, and Statistics departments.
According to the investigation, during the recently concluded Gen-Z Inter-Department Football Tournament, an altercation had occurred between the Marketing and Statistics departments. Following that incident, on Monday, a group of Statistics students assaulted a first-year student from the 2023–24 session of the Marketing department in the nearby Chawkbazar area.
Eyewitnesses said that after news of the assault spread, several Statistics students gathered at Shaheed Abu Sayeed Square to settle the matter with the Marketing students of the 2023–24 session. However, tension escalated between the two sides, and soon the Marketing students attacked the Statistics students with sticks and clubs. As a result, Pranto Ghosh, a second-year student (2022–23 session) of the Statistics department, sustained a serious head injury and was later hospitalized.
Witnesses further said that the situation quickly spiraled out of control across the campus. Repeated clashes between the Marketing and Statistics departments turned the university’s main gate area into a battlefield. Several photo frames displayed near the main gate for the university’s anniversary celebration were also vandalized.
As the violence intensified, both groups engaged in chase and counter-chase. At one point, Yusuf Ali, a student from the Physics department, tried to flee through the Swadhinata Smarak field but was caught by Marketing students. They beat him with sticks, leaving him severely injured. Upon hearing this, Physics students gathered in large numbers and chased the Marketing students, who retreated and took shelter in front of Academic Building 3.
Later, hundreds of students from the Physics and Statistics departments jointly pursued the Marketing students, who then locked themselves inside various classrooms and toilets within Academic Building 3 for safety. The building’s gate was locked from the outside.
At that time, University Proctor Dr. Md. Ferdous Rahman, Director of the Student Counseling and Guidance Office Prof. Dr. Md. Ileas Pramanik, Registrar Dr. Md. Harun-or-Rashid, members of the proctorial body, and several student leaders arrived at the scene and tried to calm the students.
However, ignoring their requests, students from the Physics and Statistics departments broke the lock and vandalized the doors and windows of the classrooms belonging to the Political Science and Sociology departments located on the ground floor, where the Marketing students were hiding. During the vandalism, Niloy, a Marketing student from the 2024–25 session, suffered a severe eye injury and was later hospitalized after the clash subsided.
Meanwhile, police personnel from the university’s on-campus police camp arrived around 9:30 p.m. but were unable to take significant action due to lack of manpower. Later, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. Md. Showkat Ali himself went to the scene but also failed to calm the agitated students. Even around midnight, students from the Statistics and Physics departments continued protesting in front of the building, demanding justice and punishment for the “heinous attack.” Students from the Marketing department remained trapped inside Academic Building 3.
In an attempt to resolve the crisis, the university administration held an emergency meeting at midnight in the conference room of the administrative building. Afterwards, the VC visited the spot and announced the expulsion of eight Marketing students.
VC Prof. Dr. Md. Showkat Ali said that Safaet Shubho and Shahriar Apu of the 16th batch (2023–24 session) of the Marketing department were primarily responsible for the attack on Physics student Yusuf. Hence, they have been expelled indefinitely. Along with them, their associates — Sajib, Sourav, Najmus Sakib, Rohan Sarkar, Jihad of the same batch, and Ashraful of the 14th batch (2021–22 session) — have also been expelled from the university.
He further stated:
“We, the university administration, will maintain a zero-tolerance policy for such incidents. Expulsion means expulsion — indefinitely. There is no question of any semester-wise discussion. To keep the university free from stigma, such ‘parasites’ must be removed from Begum Rokeya University.”
Regarding the vandalism of the Political Science and Sociology departments, he warned:
“I want to alert everyone — no one should damage university property in the future.”
He also added that those involved in the vandalism would face disciplinary action.
At the same time, the VC announced the formation of a five-member investigation committee to look into all aspects of the incident. The committee will be jointly headed by Prof. Dr. Md. Ileas Pramanik, Director of the Student Counseling and Guidance Office (Convener), and Proctor Dr. Md. Ferdous Rahman (Member Secretary). Other members include Prof. Dr. Mizanur Rahman, Dean of the Faculty of Engineering; Dr. Amir Sharif, Provost of Bijoy 24 Hall; and Prof. Dr. Md. Emdadul Haque, Dean of the Faculty of Life and Earth Sciences.
Following the immediate expulsion of the eight students, mixed reactions were observed among the rest of the university students. While many praised the administration’s decision to maintain peace and discipline on campus, some felt that the matter should have been reviewed after a full investigation.
“Such violent and unruly behavior has no place in a university. From that perspective, the decision to expel them seems justifiable to me, no matter which side they belong to,” said Masud Rana, a university student of the 2022–23 session.
He added:
“However, the decision for indefinite expulsion might have been made based on immediate video footage review. Yet, during the July movement, many students affiliated with the then-ruling party were expelled for only one or two semesters for similar violent incidents.”
Therefore, he demanded that the fairness of this decision should be reviewed properly after a thorough investigation.