The students of the Rajshahi University have taken position in front of the vice-chancellor's residence on Paris Road to stage a demonstration in protest of the ‘attack on students by the locals and police’.
Earlier, the students started gathering in front of the Syed Nazrul Islam administrative building from 10.00 am on Sunday. At around 10:30 am they locked down the administrative building and started the demonstration.
Later, they brought out a protest rally from in front of the administrative building at around 11.00 am. The rally went around several roads on the campus and ended in front of the VC’s residence on Paris Road and took position there. The students are staging their demonstration there now.
They were chanting different slogans demanding justice over the incident. Meanwhile, professor Golam Sabbir, VC of the university, appeared before the students and tried to calm them down. The students responded by chanting slogans against him.
The students also placed several demands in the demonstration. Their demands are - justice for the attack on RU students by locals and police, stopping the entry of outsiders into the university and ensuring safety of the students, ensuring on-campus accommodation for all students, ensuring proper treatment of the injured students, taking necessary measures within 24 hours of the incident, and ensuring student representation in forming university policies.
Amanullah Khan, a student of the population science and human resource development department of the university, said, “The police were largely inactive during the entire period of the clash. Taking advantage of their inaction, the local goons attacked us. Our demonstration will continue until our demands are met.”
Earlier, on Saturday, Al Amin Akash, a student of the sociology department of 2017-18 session, was returning to Rajshahi from his home in Bogura on a bus. On his way, he got into an argument with bus driver Shariful and helper Ripon over a bus seat.
Alamin and Ripon locked into an altercation again as the bus reached the Binodpur gate of the university. At the time, a local shopkeeper came and started arguing with Al Amin. At one point, they locked into a scuffle. Later, other students of the sociology department came to the spot and attacked the shopkeeper.
Following that, the local traders and shopkeepers rushed to the spot and attacked the students and the clash broke out.
More than 200 students were injured in clashes in phases with locals. Police fired tear shells to control the situation. The students of the university set fire to several shops and the local police box.
Apart from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), seven platoons of BGB members have been deployed there. Besides, additional police members have been deployed in the Binodpur market near the university to avoid any unwarranted situation there.