Students Against Discrimination declares protest rally in Gazipur

The Students Against Discrimination is to hold a protest rally at the Rajbari ground in Gazipur Sadar upazila today, Saturday. The rally starts around 1:30pm. The central leaders of the student platform will attend the rally.

The Student Against Discrimination announced the programme in a Facebook post from their official account around 4:00 am today.

The Facebook post reads, “A mass rally to be held in protest of the attack on the organisers of Students Against Discrimination in Gazipur by the Awami goons of Mozammel and Jahangir (former mayor). Students and people from across the country will join the rally along with the central leaders.”

Earlier on Friday, a group of agitated people attacked the house of former liberation war minister AKM Mozammel Haque at around 9:00 pm. However, the attackers were beaten up by the locals. At least 15 persons sustained injuries in the incident, including three in critical condition.

Police and locals say a group of people attacked the house of former minister Mozammel Haque in the Dakshinkhan area of Gazipur city. They entered the house and vandalised it. Suddenly there was an announcement from a local mosque that the minister’s house was being “robbed”. It also urged people to come forward to prevent the robbery. Following the announcement, locals cordoned off the house and beat up some of the persons who vandalised the property.

Later, an army troop arrived, rescued the injured persons and took them to Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmad Medical College Hospital. Some of the injured were sent to Dhaka in critical conditions.

The students staged a protest procession around 2:00 am in front of the hospital in protest of the attack.

Students Against Discrimination leader in Gazipur, Md Abdullah said, “We received information on Friday night that the former minister’s house is being vandalised and looted. Following that, a group of 15-16 students immediately went there and found people looting the house. As we tried to stop them, a number of people thronged the house equipped with sharp weapons within minutes.”

At one point the students were beaten indiscriminately and stabbed on the roof. As soon as another group of students reached the house, they too were beaten up by the locals. The students have announced ‘March to Gazipur’ today in protest.