The law enforcers yesterday foiled the quota protesters’ March for Justice by using teargas and stun grenades and charging batons in different districts.
At least 100 people were injured and 83 detained during the protests.
Teachers, parents, and citizens from various walks of life joined the programme called by the “students against discrimination” in protest of the killings and arrests of students and people, filing of cases, and abductions.
In Barishal, at least 11 people, including five journalists, were injured when police hit them with batons.
The injured journalists, The Daily Star photographer Titu Das, Jugantar photographer Shamim Ahmed, Jamuna TV videographer Hridoy Chandra Shil, NTV videographer Gobinda Saha, and Barta24.net reporter Tuhin, took primary treatment at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital.
Witnesses said some students were marching on Kathpatti Road in the city around 11:00am when police stopped them and hit them with batons to disperse them.
The students later entered the Barishal City Corporation building, where a scuffle occurred between them and City Panel Mayor-2 Enamul Haque Bahar. At least 13 protesters were detained from different spots.
Arichul Haque, officer in charge of Kotwali Police Station, said most of the detainees had been released.
Deputy Commissioner Tanvir Arafat of Barishal Metropolitan Police apologised to journalists for the injuries.
In Sylhet, police used teargas and stun grenades as protesters were marching from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) to the court premises in the city. Around 100 students staged a sit-in at the SUST gate in the morning.
When they reached the Subid Bazar area around 1:00pm and broke through a police barrier, officers used teargas and stun grenades to disperse them, leaving around 50 injured.
Azbahar Ali Sheikh, deputy commissioner (north) at Sylhet Metropolitan Police, later told reporters that hundreds of Jamaat-Shibir men joined the students’ procession. When the protesters refused to comply with police orders and threw bricks, the police used tear gas to disperse them.
He added that no one was injured or detained.
In Sylhet city, around 100 cultural, social, and political activists marched demanding justice and an investigation into the killings involving the United Nations.
In Khulna, police detained at least 19 individuals, students said. But police had not made comments.
Hundreds of students marched from the city’s Nirala Mor to Royal Mor around 1:40pm. They removed the police barricade at Moyla Pota intersection and staged a sit-in at Satrasta intersection.
Police and demonstrators chased each other around 2:15pm.
In Dinajpur, police detained nine people, including five female students. As students gathered at Dinajpur Gor-e-Shaheed Boromath around 11:30am, police chased them away.
The students then moved to Dinajpur Shaheed Minar and chanted slogans. A police team detained 10 protesters, according to Farid Hossain, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station in Dinajpur.
In the capital, law enforcers intercepted several hundred students, mostly from private universities, near the High Court.
At least five students were allegedly picked up from the area when students, accompanied by some teachers and lawyers, attempted to enter the High Court premises through Mazar gate.
Two Dhaka University teachers — Prof Nusrat Jahan Chowdhury and Shehreen Amin Monami — were also allegedly shoved by police.
At 12:10pm, policemen attempted to detain a college student when the two teachers along with three students tried to prevent police from detaining him.
“I did not expect this behaviour. I came here to stand with the students. Don’t we have the right to be here?” asked Prof Nusrat.
Police detained at least five students from the area and released one of them later.
Around 1:00pm when police attempted to take a few more students in a pickup. Nusrat Noor, a private university student, stood in front of the vehicle and some other people joined her.
“My fellow university student has been detained by the police. We came for a peaceful protest for justice, but the police obstructed our programme,” Nusrat told The Daily Star.
Around 1:15pm, a group of DU teachers, mostly belonging to the pro-BNP panel, tried to march from the campus to the High Court area.
They were stopped in front of Shishu Academy. They sat on the road where around 200 students from BUET, DU, and various private universities joined them. They went back to the Doyel Chattar area, after police released two detained students.
Around the same time, over 50 lawyers took position inside the closed Mazar gate of the HC and chanted slogans.
In Chattogram, around 500 students staged a demonstration at Chattogram Court building premises, blocking the entrances.
Some 100 students gathered near Lal Dighi ground from 10:30am while nearly 30 lawyers backed by BNP-Jamaat demonstrated at the main entrance of the court building. Police intercepted the students when they tried to move towards the gate.
Later, the students moved towards the court building, defying the police ban and chanting slogans. A confrontation occurred between Pro-AL and BNP-Jamaat-backed lawyers.
In Jashore, six students were detained during a march. The students gathered in the town in the morning and proceeded to the Police Superintendent’s office. Police hit them with batons, leaving at least six injured.
In Kushtia, at least 15 people were detained from different parts of the city after they tried to hold programmes at DC Court area.
Jahangirnagar University students and teachers held a protest march and a mass signature campaign demanding the release of all arrestees, including Arif Sohail, a movement coordinator. They gathered at the Mahua stage at 1:00 pm, and 15 teachers joined the protest.
Source: The Daily Star
