Police use batons and water cannon to disperse teachers from Press Club
Police obstructed the blockade of teachers and staff of MPO-listed non-government educational institutions in front of the National Press Club in the capital.
Police used batons to clear the teachers and staff from the road and fired sound grenades alongside water cannon. Several protesters were reportedly injured.
The demonstration began at 8:00 am on Sunday, with the teachers and staff staging a blockade in front of the National Press Club, pressing a three-point demand that includes a house rent allowance equivalent to 20 per cent of the basic salary.
Participants joined the demonstration under the banner of the ‘MPO-Listed Education Nationalisation Aspirants Alliance.’ Their other two demands are to raise the medical allowance to 1,500 taka for both teachers and staff, and to set the festival allowance for staff at 75 per cent. The large turnout of teachers and staff blocked traffic in front of the Press Club.
Around 1:30 pm, a team led by Masud Alam, deputy commissioner (DC) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Ramna Division issued an ultimatum to the protesting teachers to clear the road.
Addressing the teachers, DC Masud Alam said, “Move to the Shaheed Minar; you have five minutes. After five minutes, we will take legal action. Your leaders have already gone to the Shaheed Minar, so you must not block the road here.”
The protesting teachers refused to leave, stating they would continue the blockade at any cost. One of the protesting teachers, Nazrul Islam said, “We will not leave the street until our demands are met.”
Police then used sound grenades and water cannon, and a few were beaten with batons, leaving several injured. Their identities could not be confirmed immediately.
At the time of this report being written, police had cleared part of the road in front of the Press Club. On one side, there were police personnel while on the other side some of the protesting teachers continued their demonstration. Police personnel were still trying to disperse them.