Killed By An Idea

An activist of Bangladesh Chatra League (BCL) [opposition student wing] was stabbed to death in the city ‎ on January 6. Five activists of Jatiyatabadi Chatra Dal (JCD) [ruling party student wing] swooped on Akbar ‎ Sultan,18, a second-year student of MC college, on the campus around 10: 30 am and stabbed [him] in the ‎ abdomen and legs. Akbar was admitted to the Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital where he ‎ succumbed to his injuries at 8 pm....‎
The Bangladesh Chatra League (BCL) yesterday demanded immediate arrest and trial of the ‎ killers of Akbar Sultan, vice-president of Sylhet Government College unit

‎ - The Daily Star, January 9,2003‎


Another dead boy, killed by an idea –‎
Democracy. And western donors won’t
Mention him on the BBC: we had
A ‘free and fair’ election, and that’s news.‎
His story won’t be interesting, either –‎
Thousands like him, a boring pattern; power
At, say, thirteen, armed at fourteen, careering
Through the ranks until he fell, used and trashed. ‎
Used by the parties, by aid-givers, by
Intellectuals, here, abroad, by NGOs....‎
Everyone turned the knife – careers and cash‎
At stake. And what could he have been, ‎
I wonder, had multinational interests
Left him alone to die surrounded by grandchildren? ‎

Iftekhar Sayeed

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