, Nov. 4 -- Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday raised concerns over what it described as arbitrary punitive measures against academics and students at public universities in Bangladesh over their alleged political affiliations, saying the actions violate fundamental rights and undermine academic freedom.

Any action to punish persons for their peaceful beliefs or without ensuring due process would violate the rights to freedom of expression and association protected under international human rights law and reproduce abusive attempts under previous administrations to control political opinion and expression at Bangladesh's public universities, it said.

"Bangladesh has a long history of political debate in its universities, and only aut...