Lifting curfew depends on this Friday

The government may decide to reopen the educational institutions and lift the curfew in most places after Friday as the last weekend saw large-scale violence over the quota-reform protest.

The government wants to see what happens on Friday and will deploy a large number of law enforcers in Dhaka that day. The authorities will then make a decision if no untoward incident happens that day, said sources present at a "high-profile" meeting at the home ministry yesterday.

Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan, Law Minister Anisul Huq, Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury, Prime Minister's Private Industry and Investment Adviser Salman Fazlur Rahman, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Mohammad Ali Arafat, Inspector General of Police Chowdhury Abdullah Al-Mamun, and police's Special Branch chief Monirul Islam were present at the meeting.

Fierce clashes turned Dhaka into a battlefield after Juma prayers last Friday, leaving, as per The Daily Star findings, 55 dead. Eleven others got killed in different districts.

Awami League leadership believes that there are risks of violence on Friday, and its activists will stay alert, said party insiders. The AL will hold a rally in front of its central office on Bangabandhu Avenue at 3:00pm that day.

At yesterday's meeting at the home ministry, reports made by deputy commissioners from across the country were discussed, said the sources.

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The participants opined that the situation is satisfactory in all districts except Dhaka, Narayanganj, Gazipur, Narsingdi, and areas under the capital's two city corporations, Narayanganj City Corporation, and Gazipur City Corporation.

In other districts, primary schools may reopen in phases after the authorities evaluate Friday's situation, said the sources.

A minister present at the meeting said, "We want to bring primary school students back to the classrooms because the new activity-based curriculum requires their presence. We are considering opening schools everywhere except those in the four districts. We will decide about secondary schools afterwards."

Amid widespread violence, the government on July 16 announced closure of educational institutions. The education boards later postponed the Higher Secondary Certificate and equivalent examinations scheduled for July 18, 21, 23, and 25.

After the meeting yesterday, Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury told reporters that the situation was not conducive to reopening universities.

Completing the HSC and equivalent examinations is the priority, he said.

Participants at the meeting talked about the judicial commission formed to probe the killings on 16 July during the quota-reform protests. The government would wait for the commission, led by High Court Judge Khondker Diliruzzaman, to file a report, and then take action.

"The government will bring those responsible for the killings to book, no matter who they are," a minister told The Daily Star, requesting anonymity.

The participants agreed that curfew should be lifted in all places, except the aforesaid districts, unless there is an unless an untoward incident. Dusk-to-dawn curfew may remain in the four districts.

Even if daytime curfew is lifted, there will be strong surveillance on Dhaka's Shonir Akhra, Demra, Rayerbagh, Mohammadpur, Mirpur-10, Savar and Uttara because these places witnessed fierce clashes which resulted in high number of causalities.