জগন্নাথে ২০ বছর আগে ছাত্রলীগের সাথে যৌথভাবে ‘শিবির পেটানোর’ অভিযানে যুক্ত ছিল ছাত্রদল ও বামদলগুলো!
Police charge baton on Islami Chhatra Shibir activists after the Shibir and Bangladesh Chhatra League workers locked in violent clashes at Jagannath University in the capital yesterday. PHOTO: STAR
At least 100 students and several policemen were injured when Shibir cadres clashed with the activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and some left-leaning student organisations at Jagannath University yesterday.
Following clashes between the rival student bodies for the last two days, the university authorities last night suspended classes till July 20 and formed a seven-member committee to probe the incidents.
Earlier on Saturday, activists of the student organisations belonging to the ruling BNP, opposition Awami League (AL) and left parties fought in unison against the cadres of Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, leaving 15 students injured.
Around 50 of the injured were admitted to different hospitals and clinics in the city. Of them, condition of 10 was stated to be critical.
Four policemen were also wounded, one critically.
The police resorted to baton charge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the students. During the clash, traffic on the roads adjacent to the campus came to a standstill, leading to a snarl-up over two hours.
Witnesses said the fighting broke out when several hundred Shibir cadres, mostly outsiders, attempted to take out a procession at around 11:00am.
Resolved not to allow any Shibir activities on the campus, leaders and workers of AL-backed BCL, BNP-backed JCD and Chhatra League (JSD) soon chased the Shibir activists.
But the Shibir men carrying bags full of brickbats retaliated throwing stones at their rivals.
In the face of counter-attack, the activists of BCL and JCD retreated and later regrouped.
By this time, more than 100 policemen deployed since morning took position in the middle of the feuding groups.
They baton-charged the Shibir men and drove them out of the campus through the main entrance. At the same time, they were firing tear gas canisters at the united students’ group.
Major parts of the campus and the main entrance were littered with brickbats.
More than a hundred cadres who were staying outside the campus joined in the fighting, trying to reinforce the Shibir position, students alleged.
They said some people waiting at the main entrance on a dozen motorbikes rushed the injured Shibir men to different hospitals and clinics.
The university authorities had instructed the police to allow only the students with identity cards after 8:00am. Police said they started checking IDs after 10:00am as the two teachers supposed to help them in the checking turned up much later.
Campus sources said by this time several hundred Shibir activists coming from Rajshahi and Chittagong universities and other institutions across the country took position inside the campus.
They [outsiders] were assigned to capture Jagannath University, added the sources.
At around 2:00pm, Vice-chancellor Prof Sirajul Islam Khan came to the campus after a meeting at the education ministry. He was furious with the police, asking them how some 400 outsiders entered the campus and why they have charged baton on the students.
In reply, the police said they could not check the students in time as no teachers came to their assistance before 10:00am.
“The failure of the police is responsible for today’s incident,” the VC told reporters.
He said, “We feared that situation could get worse today (Monday) and so we requested the police authorities to deploy additional forces to stop further escalation of violence on the campus.”
Senior vice-president of Jagannath University BCL Sohel Rana claimed that at least 25 BCL men were injured while JCD said eight of its activists sustained injuries during the clash.
Niamul Haq Naim, president of Jagannath University Shibir, said, “More than 50 of our workers were injured in police beating, so we will take position against the police.”
CLASSES SUSPENDED, PROBE BODY FORMED
The university authorities at an urgent meeting last night decided to suspend classes till July 20, a press release said.
They also formed a seven-member committee headed by the registrar to investigate the incidents of the last two days.
The committee has been asked to submit its report to the vice-chancellor within the next 10 days.
Meanwhile, the BCL central committee at a rally on Dhaka University (DU) campus yesterday vowed to resist Shibir at educational institutions across the country.
President Mahmud Hasan Ripon and General Secretary Mahfuzul Haider Chowdhury Roton, among others, spoke at the rally.
Protesting the Shibir “attempt to occupy the Jagannath University campus”, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal-backed Chhatra League brought out a procession from New Market in the city yesterday.
Source: Daily Star
Staff Correspondent
Tue Jul 18, 2006 12:00 AM