In yet another disturbing display of vigilante moral policing, Sarba Mitra Chakma—an elected executive member of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) from the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed panel—has been caught on video forcing dozens of children, teenagers, and youths to perform degrading ear-holding squats on the DU central field.
This act, captured in a viral video from January 6, shows 25–30 minors lined up, holding their ears while squatting repeatedly under his supervision, with a stick-wielding associate ensuring no one “cheats.” Such humiliation is not a form of discipline, but rather a manifestation of outright child abuse and moral policing, particularly in the context of the culture of impunity for mobocracy under the Yunus regime.
This incident comes mere days after a horrific viral video of school authorities torturing and threatening a child, leading to arrests under child protection laws. Yet, within two days, Sarba Mitra—operating with the impunity of his elected position—repeated similar cruelty on the DU campus. Public outrage forced him to announce his resignation from DUCSU on January 26, though he offered only half-hearted apologies while repeatedly defending his actions as necessary for “campus security.”
Pledging resignation or issuing apologies does not absolve such grave wrongdoing. Children are not fair game for physical punishment or public shaming simply because they are vulnerable. Bangladesh is a signatory to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and has domestic laws prohibiting corporal punishment.
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Section 70 of the Children Act 2013 explicitly criminalises cruelty to children in custody or care, including acts causing physical or mental harm, with penalties up to 5 years imprisonment or fines up to Tk1 lakh, or both. The 2011 Ministry of Education policy bans physical and mental punishment in educational institutions, a rule applicable across contexts.
Associate Professor Taslima Yasmin of DU’s Law Department rightly condemned this as “illegal, inhumane, and undignified.” No one has the authority to mete out extrajudicial punishments. Discipline cannot justify moral policing, ear-pulling squats, slaps, or threats. Such acts violate children’s dignity and international commitments Bangladesh has upheld.
DU authorities issued a show-cause notice to Sarba Mitra within 24 hours, stating his conduct damaged the university’s reputation and violated discipline rules. Proctor Saifuddin Ahmed emphasised that while theft or harassment complaints exist, they provide no justification for humiliating children, many of whom are children of university staff playing on campus.
This is not Sarba Mitra’s first brush with controversy. Since his election last year on a Shibir-backed ticket, he has engaged in repeated moral policing: chasing away elderly people with sticks, threatening outsiders, and now abusing minors—all while claiming to protect students from “external threats” like theft or stone-throwing. His justifications ring hollow; they mask a pattern of overreach by someone tied to Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing, a group notorious for ideological enforcement.
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Worse still, during the ongoing election campaign, Jamaat leaders are stooping to new lows: threatening voters while luring ordinary Muslims with false promises that supporting their party will “secure their place in Jannah” (paradise). This manipulative blend of intimidation and religious exploitation exposes the hypocritical and dangerous nature of such groups. An elected leader like Sarba Mitra, propped up by this ecosystem, embodies the same authoritarian impulse—imposing “morality” through force rather than law or consent.
Moral policing has no place in a university or society that values human rights, the rule of law, and child protection. Sarba Mitra’s actions deserve full legal scrutiny under child protection laws—not just resignation. DU administration and authorities must ensure accountability, setting a firm precedent against such abuses. Children deserve safety and respect, not humiliation at the hands of self-righteous vigilantes affiliated with extremist-backed politics.
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