File photo
Four platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) personnel were deployed in the city's Nilkhet area in the early hours of Monday (Jan 27) to prevent any untoward incidents after a clash broke out between students of Dhaka University and its seven affiliated colleges at the Nilkhet intersection. The BGB confirmed the deployment in a short message issued at 12:39 a.m.
The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), along with police assistance, were deployed as students of the seven government colleges and Dhaka University after they locked in sporadic clashes late on Sunday (Jan 26) at the Nilkhet intersection. Four platoons of the BGB were deployed to maintain order as students of both seven colleges and Dhaka University were positioned there at around midnight, BGB PRO confirmed.
Police reportedly lobbed sound grenades to disperse the crowd.
After intervention from the security forces, the situation started to calm down as tensions died down between the two groups at around 1:30 a.m. Students were seen in front of the Dhaka College at around 1 a.m. They were seen brandishing sticks and hurling brick chips towards the students of Dhaka University at the intersection. Eden College students also came in at one point and joined the students during the clashes.
Seven-college (Dhaka College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Girls' College, Eden Mohila College, Government Bangla College, Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Government Titumir College and Kabi Nazrul Government College) students claimed the attack was launched by the DU side.
At around 1 a.m., Hasnat Abdullah, convener of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement, reached the spot to try and calm the students' down amid escalating tensions. The students shooed him off by chanting slogans against him.
Meanwhile, vehicular movement was suspended in surrounding areas.
Seven government college students affiliated with the University of Dhaka staged a demonstration at the Science Lab intersection in the capital's Mirpur Road on Sunday (Jan 26) evening. Over a hundred students blocked the intersection at around 6pm, in protest of Dhaka University's role regarding their five-point demand.
Due to the blockade, commuters faced severe traffic gridlock on both sides of the road and surrounding areas, including Science Lab, Nilkhet, and Elephant Road.
At 10:30 p.m., over 300 students marched towards Dhaka University after blocking the Science Lab intersection for about four and a half hours. At one point, several hundred students from different DU halls came out and chased them away, forcing the students of seven colleges to disperse from the Nilkhet intersection.
At around 11:45 p.m., students from both Dhaka University and the seven colleges were still stationed on both sides of the Nilkhet intersection, and the situation became tense.
Earlier on the day, the seven college students said they went to meet Dhaka University Pro-Vice Chancellor Professor Mamun Ahmed to know about the progress of their five-point demands. They alleged that the pro-VC misbehaved with them and did not listen to their plea accordingly. Professor Mamun could not be reached immediately for a comment on the students' allegation.
The students demanded that the pro-VC apologise and address their five demands.
The demands put forth by the students include the abolition of the unjust quota system in the admission test starting from the 2024-25 session. They also demand that no student be admitted beyond the classroom capacity and that the teacher-student ratio be considered during admission. Additionally, they also called for the introduction of a negative marking system in the admission tests.
Besides, the students sought transparency in the admission fees, requesting that the fee be deposited into a new account, in coordination with a special committee formed by the education ministry, rather than Dhaka University itself.
DU VC to hold emergency meeting with principals of seven affiliated colleges
Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Niaz Ahmed Khan will hold an emergency meeting with the principals of the seven affiliated colleges on Monday (Jan 27) at 12:30 p.m. at his office.
According to a statement issued by the university's public relations office, issues related to the interests of students of seven affiliated government colleges will be discussed in the meeting.
