The police made no headway in its investigation into recent attacks on the demonstrating national minority students while protests against the perpetrators continued for the fifth day in a row on Sunday.
The police so far made two arrests only with a case in this regard was filed against 16 named and 200鈥�300 unnamed people in the incident of attacks on the national minority students and their supporters, pressing for the reinstatement of the word 鈥楢divasi鈥� in the textbooks in the capital on January 15,
The protesters under the banner of Sangkhubdhho Adivasi Chhatra-Janata (aggrieved indigenous students-people) are scheduled to hold a meeting with the likeminded organisations in the capital today to fix its next course of action, Alik Mree, one of the organisers, told 抖阴精品.
鈥楴o discussion was held between us and the government on our demands for restoration of the word 鈥淎divasi鈥� in the textbooks, our constitutional recognition and immediate action against all attackers,鈥� he said on Sunday, adding that if their demands were not meet they would go for tougher movement.
Protest rallies were also held in Pabna and Rajshahi districts on the day under the banner.
Recently, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board removed a graffiti carrying the word 鈥楢divasi鈥� from the back cover of the Bangla grammar book for the Classes IX and X, following demand from a group named Students for Sovereignty.
More than a dozen, mostly students, protesting under the banner of Sangkhubdhho Adivasi Chhatra-Janata, were injured in two attacks by the Students for Sovereignty in front of the NCTB Bhaban on January 15 in police presence.
Next day on January 16, at least seven individuals, mostly students, were injured when the police swooped on a rally held in Dhaka in protest at the 15 January attack.
A case was filed against 16 people with the Motijheel police on Friday over the attack on January 15, following which two men were arrested the same night.
Arrested Arif Al Khabir, 38, and Md Abbas, 24 are now held in jail custody.
Motijheel police officer-in-charge Mesbah Uddin told 抖阴精品 on Sunday night that they could not make any more arrests.
鈥榃e are trying to nab the other perpetrators,鈥� he said, adding that they had sought remand for the arrested two.
The remand hearing is yet to take place, he added.
According to the case statements, other named accused include Dhaka University law student Md Ziaul Haque, criminology student Mohiuddin Rahat, physics student Md Yakub Mozumder, and Shahadat Farazi Sakib, who was sacked on January 16 from Jatiya Nagorik Committee for his involvement in the attacks.
Politicians, academics, national minority leaders and professionals, under the banner of Bikhubdhho Nagorik Samaj, organised a rally in front of the National Press Club on Sunday, protesting at the attacks.
Dipayan Khisa, organiser of the rally, read out five demands, including arrest and exemplary punishment of the attackers, treatment of the injured, and inclusion of the history of the national minorities in the textbooks.
Revolutionary Workers Party general secretary Saiful Huq said that the interim government could not avoid the responsibility in the attack.
Communist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Ruhin Hossain Prince alleged that the present government was acting against the July uprising spirit.
Gonoforum presidium member Subrata Chowdhury called on the government to establish peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and implement the spirit of July uprising for establishing a discrimination free Bangladesh.
The rally was chaired by Dhaka University professor Robaet Ferdous while Socialist Party of Bangladesh general secretary Bazlur Rashid Firoz, Oikya NAP acting president ASMA Sabur, Manusher Jonno Foundation executive director Shaheen Anam, Dhaka University professor Zobaida Nasreen, Association for Land Reform and Development chief executive Shamsul Huda, Bangladesh Jasod central leader Karim Sikder, national minority leader Gagendra Nath Mahato, and former student leader Aslam Khan spoke, among others.
A section of Dhaka University law students on the day brought out a demonstration near the proctor office, demanding action against those attacking their fellows on January 16.
In a statement issued on Sunday, under the banner of Network for Democratic Bangladesh, condemning the attacks on the national minority people and removal of the graffiti from the textbook, 181 citizens demanded constitutional recognition of the national minority people and inclusion of lessons on them in the textbooks.
The statement also mentioned five demands鈥攊mmediate arrest and prosecution of the attackers and making the police authorities accountable for the police attack on the national minority students, restoration of the graffiti in the textbooks, elimination of all forms of marginalisation and dehumanisation of the national minorities in textbooks and a public apology from the NCTB chairman, constitutional recognition for the national minority people, full endorsement of the 2007 United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and withdrawal of the military from the CHT.
The statement was signed, among others, by economist and Sarvajanakatha editor Anu Muhammad, Grand Valley State University, Michigan professor Azfar Hossain, Dhaka University professor Qamrul Hasan Mamun and associate professor Moshahida Sultana, writer and activist Rahat Mustafiz, anthropologist Nasrin Khandaker and theatre activist Nahed Akhter Emu.
Samajik Protirodh Committee in a statement issued on Sunday condemned and protested at the attacks on the national minority students and their supporters.聽聽
In a statement, women rights organisation Naripokkho expressed concern over the attacks, demanding a fair and speedy trial, restoration of the word Adivasi in the textbook and collective initiatives to prevent such attacks.