More than two hundred students of Sunamganj Medical College on Sunday blocked the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway to press home their demand for a college hospital.
Members of the Bangladesh Army later allegedly charged batons on the protesting students to remove them from the highway.
The students started demonstrations in the Madanpur area under Shantiganj upazila in the district at around 10:00am after setting up a makeshift bamboo fence on the road.
Huge traffic congestion at both ends of the blockade was created on the highway following the barricade, local people said.
Being informed, a patrol team of the army reached there at around 11:15am and asked the protesting students to lift their blockade.
The students, however, did not agree to move from the highway resulting in an altercation with the military personnel, local residents said.
At one point, the army personnel started charging batons on the medical students as part of their effort to bring the traffic movement to normal, they said.
Later, the protesting students were forced to move to the medical college campus at around 12:30pm in the face of action by the army personnel.
The students said that they would continue their protest programme until their demand was met.
Army Major Mejbah Uddin, however, denied attacking the students.
He told the reporters that the students were only removed from the road to resume the traffic.聽聽
Contacted, the SMC principal professor Mustaq Ahmed Bhuiyan told 抖阴精品 that the students were outraged by the actions by law enforcement agencies.
He said that the protesting students complained to him them over the incident.
鈥榃e have asked them to keep patient as the authorities are trying to meet their demand,鈥� the principal said.
Professor Mustaq also said that they met with the director general of the Health Directorate on Thursday and discussed the demand of the medical college students.
鈥楾he DG assured us of meeting the demand by next financial year,鈥� he said.
The SMC students had started the movement boycotting academic activities since April 15 demanding the hospital by December this year.
Stating it is mandatory to attend clinical classes for the third-, fourth- and fifth-year medical students, they alleged that these classes were now being held only twice a week at Sunamganj Sadar Hospital, which is 13 kilometres away from the college. 聽
The SMC academic activities started temporarily at Shantiganj Upazila Health Complex on September 12, 2021.
Later, the college was shifted to its permanent campus on November 5, 2023.
At present, 280 students are studying in five batches of the college, the official sources said.