Khelafat Chhatra Majlis Holds Anti-LGBTQ Protest at Dhaka University, Threatens to Prevent LGBTQ Gatherings in Shahbagh
Bangladesh Khelafat Chhatra Majlis organised an anti-LGBTQ protest and human chain at the University of Dhaka on the evening of 4 April, with the participation of university students and members of its campus unit. The demonstration took place near the Raju Memorial Sculpture after Maghrib prayers, where participants demanded an end to LGBTQ gatherings and activities in Shahbagh. The protest followed an incident on 3 April in which Hijra and transgender people were filmed and harassed without their consent, and eight individuals were subsequently detained and imprisoned. Organisers cited allegations of an attack on a journalist during the previous day's confrontation as justification for their protest against LGBTQ people. Following the gathering, demonstrators marched from the Raju Memorial Sculpture to Shahbagh intersection.
Md. Shahriar Alam, a postgraduate student in the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of Dhaka and convener of the University of Dhaka unit of Bangladesh Khelafat Chhatra Majlis, alleged that LGBTQ people had been engaging in objectionable activities in Shahbagh on Friday evenings. He declared that members of the organisation would mobilise on the streets to resist such activities if they continued. At the same gathering, Muhammad Habibullah Misbah, a member of the organisation's central presidential council, portrayed LGBTQ activities as contrary to the country's history, traditions and culture. He called on the authorities to prevent LGBTQ activities throughout the country and demanded punishment for those allegedly involved in the 3 April incident concerning journalist Borhan Uddin Yasin.
Muhammad Mahmudul Hasan Mahmud, a student in the Department of Islamic Studies at the University of Dhaka, characterised transgender identities and homosexuality as threats to society and warned that stronger demonstrations would be organised with other students if the authorities failed to intervene. Muhammad Sohrab, a student in the Department of International Relations, referred to Section 377 of the Penal Code and called for its enforcement. He also urged the authorities to distinguish between transgender and intersex people. The demands made during the demonstration extended beyond preventing LGBTQ gatherings in Shahbagh to seeking administrative restrictions on LGBTQ activities across Bangladesh.
