Mindless mayhem
The clashes between students of three colleges continued yesterday, leaving over 100 injured in the capital's Jatrabari.
Hundreds of students from Shaheed Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul College, armed with sticks, iron rods, and sharp weapons, stormed Dr Mahbubur Rahman Mollah College (DMRC) around noon, witnesses said.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Nearly 300 DMRC students who were at the entrance of the college in anticipation of the attack were chased away by those from the two other colleges -- both government institutions in Old Dhaka. They assaulted 15-20 DMRC students.
Nearly 1,000 marauding students then entered the 11-story DMRC building and damaged everything on their path, set fire to furniture, damaged documents and looted cash, computers, and laptops, said six witnesses.
They ransacked the library, tore hundreds of books, and broke most of the glass windows and doors.
As they were leaving the building, locals along with DMRC students clashed with them, said a resident named Amir Hossain.
The groups threw pieces of bricks at each other, leaving 70 to 80 people injured and damaging properties in the vicinity.
Many of the injured were treated at hospitals and clinics in Demra. Thirty-five students, mostly from Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul College went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital for treatment. Three of them needed inpatient care.
Later in the day, DMRC Principal Obaidullah Nayan issued a statement requesting the authorities to ensure justice, students' safety, and recovery of looted assets and damaged documents.
He told reporters that the students took away 20-30 laptops, computers, damaged many certificates, laboratories, security cameras and five lifts. The damage done to the institution could be worth around Tk 60 to Tk 70 crore, according to him.
In the statement, Principal Nayan also alleged students of other colleges than Suhrawardy and Kabi Nazrul, and a group of outsiders entered the building to cause massive destruction.
Muktadir Mamun, a wounded DMRC student, said, "Everyone knew they would attack our college. Many policemen were only half a kilometre away. We called them, but they did not come."
Salah Uddin, deputy commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Wari division, denied the allegations of police's inactivity as false.
"We tried our best to stop the clash, but did not succeed fully, as several thousand students gathered and carried out the attack," he added.
Education Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud said the interim government will accept any logical demand of the students, but no unjustified demand will be entertained.
Rezaul Karim, a Jatrabari resident and father of a 12th grader, said locals knew that the students from the Old Dhaka colleges would attack DMRC.
"If the law enforcers had been here, this destruction would not have happened," he said, adding that the mayhem and clashes went on for nearly one and a half hours.
The authorities deployed six platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh personnel to maintain law and order in Jatrabari and Demra, said a press release around 4:00pm.
Police blocked Demra Road, causing long tailbacks in the area.
The student unrest began on the night of November 18, hours after a DMRC student, who had dengue, died at Dhaka National Medical College Hospital. His family members and friends from the college then vandalised the hospital.
On November 20, 500-600 DMRC students again demonstrated at the hospital, DMP said in a statement yesterday.
Students from Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul College attempted to join the DMRC boys, but faced rejection that led to fistfights.
On Sunday, DMRC students again attacked the hospital and Suhrawardy College. They also tried to attack Kabi Nazrul College.
Yesterday, nearly 12,000-15,000 students from Suhrawardy College and Kabi Nazrul College gathered at Bahadur Shah Park and began marching, the police said.
"They broke through multiple police barricades and caused extensive destruction," said the DMP press release.
DMRC Principal Nayan said representatives of his and the other colleges and government officials were scheduled to meet at 4:00pm.
The students of the two other colleges were notified about the meeting, but they still went on the rampage.
He alleged that he talked to the police several times in the morning, but they did not show up.
Comments