Left Alliance Protests at RU Over Child Deaths from Measles

Al-Mahmud bijoy, RU Correspondent: A section of left-leaning students at University of Rajshahi staged a protest on Wednesday demanding effective government measures to prevent the spread of measles and condemning the deaths of children caused by the disease.

The protest procession began at around 2:00 pm from the university’s Transport Square and marched around different academic buildings before ending in a rally at Paris Road on the campus.

During the demonstration, protesters chanted slogans such as, “Children are dying from measles, what is the government doing?”, “Punish those responsible for negligence,” and “Children are dying from measles, what is Tarique Rahman doing?”

Speaking at the rally, Sad, a student of the Department of Theatre and Performance Studies, said that students had initially been hopeful after the July political transition. However, he alleged that the current administration had failed to maintain that spirit and had neglected public welfare.

“We supported this government with emotion and expectations. We do not want any person to die from lack of treatment for measles in this country. The university administration must convey our demands to the government,” he said.

Fuad Ratul, spokesperson of the alliance of left student organizations known as the Democratic Student Alliance, claimed that around 450 children had died from measles across Bangladesh over the past three months. According to him, most of the deceased children were between six months and two years old.

He alleged that the current government was repeatedly shifting responsibility for the outbreak onto the interim administration while claiming that 99 percent of children had received measles vaccines.

“However, different surveys suggest that nearly 40 percent of children are still unvaccinated,” he said.

Ratul also criticized the country’s healthcare system, alleging a shortage of ICU facilities and a lack of separate arrangements for measles treatment in hospitals.

“We have seen ICU allocations being arranged only when a child is already being taken for burial. The government has failed to take proper preventive measures and is instead engaged in political blame games,” he added.

He warned that negligence toward children’s lives would not be tolerated and demanded accountability from the interim administration. He also called on the current government to take effective measures immediately, threatening tougher movements by those involved in the July mass uprising if adequate steps are not taken.

Leaders and activists of different leftist organizations, along with a section of progressive students, were also present at the protest rally.