Bangladesh: 50 injured in police crackdown on students protesting outside Yunus’ residence

Dhaka: At least 50 students were injured in violent clashes with police in Bangladesh as engineering students attempted to march towards Jamuna, the residence of interim government Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus, to press their three-point demand, local media reported on Thursday.

The Bangladesh Home Ministry confirmed that eight policemen, including Ramna Division Deputy Commissioner Masud Alam, were also injured in the clashes, with two sustaining critical wounds.

The unrest was sparked by students from several engineering institutions, including Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), who blocked Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection on Wednesday.

Their three-point demands include preventing diploma engineers from using the title ‘engineer’, restricting diploma engineers from promotion to the ninth grade, and ensuring graduate engineers are prioritised for entry into 10th-grade jobs.

Police resorted to using tear gas, sound grenades, and water cannons to disperse the demonstrators as they attempted to march towards Jamuna.

In retaliation, student groups declared a “complete shutdown” of all engineering universities across the country on Thursday, protesting both their unmet demands and what they described as excessive police force in front of Hotel InterContinental Dhaka.

Later on Wednesday evening, an eleven-member student delegation held talks with interim government Advisors Muhammad Fouzul Kabir Khan and Syeda Rizwana Hasan at Rail Bhaban in Dhaka.

However, the hour-long meeting failed to resolve the deadlock.

Sakibul Haque Lipu, general secretary of the student platform Prokousholi Odhikar Andolon, announced the shutdown following the meeting.

“All classes and examinations will remain suspended,” on Thursday, he said. “None of our three demands has been met. Policymakers do not even know what our movement is about.”

In addition to their original three-point demand, the students outlined five further conditions.

These included a public apology and accountability from Home Advisor Jahangir Alam Chowdhury for what they termed “brutal and disgraceful” police attacks on students, as well as the reconstitution of the government’s committee by incorporating faculty and engineering stakeholders while rejecting the current body as “unrepresentative.”

The students also demanded immediate approval of their three-point demand through executive order, assurances from Advisors Fouzul Kabir, Adilur Rahman, and Rizwana Hasan, government coverage of medical costs for the injured, guarantees of student safety during the movement, and an end to police action against protesters.

The violent confrontations come against the backdrop of rising public unrest in Bangladesh, which has witnessed multiple protest movements and growing lawlessness since the Yunus-led interim government assumed power last August.

IANS