Students protesting under the banner of the Students Movement Against Discrimination returned to the streets on Monday, holding fresh demonstrations across the country to protest the recent killings, arrests, and intimidation.
The students held the fresh protests a day after six of their movement coordinators issued a statement from the custody of the detective branch of Dhaka police, allegedly at gunpoint.聽
The students held rallies, processions, and blocked highways to press home their nine demands, which included an unconditional apology from prime minister Sheikh Hasina by taking responsibility for the recent killings.
The other demands included the removal of certain ministers from government and party, the sacking of police officers responsible for the killing, and their trial.聽
Police fired sound grenades to disperse protesters in Chattogram and charged batons in a few other places, including in Dhaka, before arresting at least 68 protesters from different spots.
At least 15 protesters were injured in an attack allegedly carried out by the ruling Awami League鈥檚 student wing, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, on protesters at Barishal University.聽
The street protests began again after a gap of eight days amid massive arrests drive by police through block raids in Dhaka and many other places.
Abdul Kader, a coordinator of the protests, announced the fresh programme on Sunday night, soon after Nahid Islam announced the withdrawal of protests from DB custody, in the presence of five other detained coordinators, Abu Baker Mazumdar, Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and Nusrat Tabassum.
Kader alleged that the DB forced the coordinators into signing a scripted statement at gunpoint, an allegation that DMP detective branch chief Harun-or-Rashid denied.
Kader, in a video message issued from an undisclosed location, urged students to hold demonstrations at their nearest point countrywide.聽
A huge number of police, Border Guard Bangladesh, and Bangladesh Army聽 personnel had taken positions in several areas of the capital, Dhaka, following the announcement on聽Monday.
At ECB Chattar, police detained more than 20 protesters when they tried to gather, while 10 others were detained from Mirpur 10, where police and ruling party supporters did not allow any protesters to assemble, witnesses said.
At least 16 protesters were detained from Science Laboratory and Dhanmondi-1 in two phases, from 12:30pm to 1:00am, witnesses said.聽
At Paltan, at least six protesters were detained by police as they tried to gather.
A group of university teachers held a rally at the base of Aparajeyo Bangla on the Dhaka University campus, protesting against the attacks, cases, and arrests of students who had participated in the quota reform movement.
At the rally, teachers demanded the release of the students arrested and the reopening of educational institutions as soon as possible.
Hundreds of Jahangirnagar University teachers and students also demonstrated on their campus, protesting at the killing of students, and wholesale arrests of anti-quota protesters, including the protest coordinators.
The teachers and students brought out a procession from the university鈥檚 central Shaheed Minar area at about 4:00pm on the day.
They chanted slogans calling prime minister Hasina an 鈥榓utocrat.鈥�
Addressing the rally, protesting student Sohagi Samia said that a government that 鈥榓scended to power by manipulating ballots鈥� could only engage in such 鈥榖rutal behaviour towards its citizens.鈥櫬�
In Chattogram, about 100 protesters were trying to demonstrate in front of the Chattogram Press Club at about 3:00pm but the law enforcers foiled their attempts by using sound grenades and firing tear shells, 抖阴精品 staff correspondent in Chattogram reported.
Kotwali police station officer-in-charge SM Obidul Haq confirmed the arrests of 16 protesters from the spot while claiming the injuries of five police personnel.
In Cumilla, leaders and activists of the ruling AL and its associate bodies did not allow protesters to hold rallies, reported 抖阴精品 correspondent.
抖阴精品 staff correspondent in Sylhet reported that the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology students blocked the Sunamganj-Sylhet highway from 3:30pm to 4:30pm and held rallies, and brought out a protest procession.
抖阴精品 correspondent in Noakhali reported that over 100 students blocked the main road in front of Noakhali Zilla School for two hours, starting at 2:00pm.
抖阴精品 staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported that about two hundred teachers and students of Rajshahi University staged demonstrations on Monday by blocking the Rajshahi-Dhaka highway over their nine-point demand.
Witnesses said that the students started to gather in front of the university鈥檚 main entrance at 11:30am and blocked the highway at 11:45pm to press home their demands.
Several teachers, such as physics professor Saleh Hasan Naqib and Arabic professor Iftikharul Alam Masud, joined the demonstration, expressing solidarity with the students鈥� demands.
At least 15 people were injured in an attack, allegedly by BCL, on a meeting of student protesters at Barishal University, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Barishal reported.
The incident took place on Monday afternoon on the ground floor of the university. Among the injured, nine were admitted to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital in the city.
Police removed the students, who had gathered at Nathullabad Bus Terminal in the city, and did not allow the students to gather inside BM College.
Sujay Shuvo, coordinator of the quota reform movement at Barishal University, alleged that students were attacked, led by BCL activist AK Arafat. Arafat could not be reached for comments.
Mahin Sarkar, a coordinator of the Students Movement Against Discrimination, in a statement on Monday, urged students to take photos putting red tape on their faces and eyes in solo or groups and share those online as the next move of the protests.
鈥榃e urge all students to hold the programme and request that people from all walks of life help us build a safe Bangladesh,鈥� he said.聽
Students鈥� protests that had been continuing since early July seeking reform in quotas for government jobs turned violent following an attack on protesters by the ruling party student body, the Bangladesh Chhatra League, on July 16.
The resulting backlash prompted the government to launch a brutal crackdown on protesters, leaving at least 213 killed in clashes and their aftermath between July 16 and July 29.
