BCL also blamed for attack: Discontent spreads
DHAKA, JULY 11: About 20 people were injured in sporadic clashes between the police and government job seekers and students at the Shahbagh intersection, as well as on the Dhaka University campus, on Thursday. The job seekers were demanding abolition of quotas for government jobs.
Five students were admitted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) with bullet injuries. Two of them were identified as Foysal and Salam.
Witnesses said several hundred students tried to gather at the Shahbagh intersection in the morning to press their demand. About 500 DU students and BCS examinees brought out a procession on the DU campus before marching towards the Shahbagh intersection.
The clash started at about 11 am when law enforcers tried to clear the busy city intersection. They resorted to action as soon as the agitators tried to gather for a sit-in demonstration. Chased by the police, the agitators, mostly Dhaka University students, took shelter inside the university. Many of them ran towards the Central Public Library and the Institute of Fine Arts.
The police charged batons and fired several rounds of rubber bullet and teargas shells. The agitated students vandalised at least five vehicles and set fire to bamboo and wooden structures on the roadside.
Even the residence of the vice-chancellor of Dhaka University (DU) came under attack, when a group of students tried to proceed towards Nilkhet and were stopped by the police. The agitators laid siege to the office of the vice-chancellor. The police picked up 10 to 15 students from the spot. Of them, eight were detained from the vicinity of the vice-chancellor’s residence.
The agitators threw brickbats at the police, thus turning Shahbagh and its adjacent areas into a virtual battlefield.
Some Chhatra League activists allegedly attacked the agitating students at about 12:45 pm in front of the DU VC’s residence.
The government job seekers resumed their protest a day after they left the area following announcement by the Public Service Commission (PSC) that it would review the preliminary test results of 34th Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examinations.
Students of Jahangirnagar, Rajshahi and Chittagong universities and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology also staged demonstrations on main city roads, in protest against the quota system.
In Dhaka, an armoured carrier was brought out to scare away the demonstrators.
Some of the demonstrators broke window panes of the proctor’s office in the arts building. They also ransacked the registrar’s office and the sociology department of the university. On receiving information, law enforcers rushed to the spot and fired around 10 teargas shells to disperse the students.
The students vandalised two private cars at the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) on the DU campus. They also vandalised a vehicle of ATN Bangla, a private television channel, and injured its driver.
Dhaka University proctor Amjad Ali told reporters that some outsiders had carried out the vandalism to unleash anarchy.
Some DU unit leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) chased a group of protesters in front of Madhur Canteen. Later, BCL stalwarts brought out a procession on the campus chanting anti-Shibir slogans. The BCL activists also beat up a few of the demonstrators suspecting them to be Shibir men. The situation returned to normal after 2 pm. All entry points of the DU were closed following the incident.
Some students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) demonstrated for about an hour by blocking the Dhaka-Aricha highway over the same issue. Over 1,000 students formed a human chain in front of the university’s central gate at around 11 am, halting traffic on the highway. At least three JU teachers joined the demonstration, expressing solidarity with the agitators.
The students, however, left the highway at around 11:45 pm after the police rushed to the spot and requested them to free the road.
The agitators said they would hold a rally on the campus and declare the next course of action.
Rajshahi University (RU) students put up barricades on the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway and demonstrated there over the same issue. Several hundred students staged sit-ins at three different places on the highway from 11 am.
The students declared that they would boycott classes and examinations for an indefinite period from Saturday to press their demands. Additional members of law enforcement agencies have been deployed on the campus and its adjacent areas to prevent any untoward incident.
Chittagong University (CU) students also demonstrated in front of the university Shaheed Minar at around 11:40 am. They brought out a procession from the registrar’s building, in protest against the PSC’s move. Additional police forces have been deployed in the area to prevent any untoward incident, said Md Rafiq, a sub-inspector of Hathazari police station.
Around 200 students of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) blocked the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway near the university’s main entrance at around 12:30 pm over the same issue. On receiving information, law enforcers rushed to the spot at around 1 pm and dispersed the agitating students, reports our Sylhet correspondent.
Students of Khulna University staged a demonstration on the campus over the same demand. The demonstration began at 11 am and continued for over two hours.
The protesters at a press conference announced that the movement to cancel quotas from all types of government jobs, including the BCS, would continue.
“The next course of action will be announced from Shahbagh Merit Square at 3:00pm on Friday,” said Siddiqur Rahman, a student of Khulna BL College, at the press conference held in front of Institute of Fine Arts.
Reading out from a written statement, he said the Shahbagh Merit Square was kept open, considering the suffering of commuters in the month of holy Ramadan. “We are not leaving Shahbagh Merit Square until our demands are met,” he added.
The agitators condemned police attacks on their peaceful demonstration. They also demanded the unconditional release of the arrested demonstrators.
On Wednesday, several hundred students of DU had blocked the Shahbagh intersection, demanding that the Public Service Commission review the results of the 34th Bangladesh Civil Service preliminary examination, published on July 8, and withdraw quotas for appointing civil servants.
-With The Independent input
