Azharul’s acquittal: 15 hurt in clash between student groups in Ctg

At least 15 activists of the Ganatantrik Chhatra Jote were injured yesterday in a clash between two student groups in Chattogram's Jamal Khan area over the acquittal of Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam in crimes against humanity cases.

Ripa Majumder, president of Samajtantrik Chhatra Front's Chattogram city unit, said activists of the Jote, a coalition of seven left-leaning student organisations, gathered near the Chattogram Press Club around 3:30pm to protest Azharul's acquittal and a previous attack on students at Rajshahi University.

"As we were putting up our banner, several hundred people -- mostly Shibir activists and some from a faction of Students Against Discrimination -- attacked us with sticks and brickbats," she said.

"The police stood by silently," she alleged.

Ripa said at least 15 activists of the left-leaning coalition were injured in the attack. They received treatment at Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), she added.

Nurul Alam Ashek, in-charge of the CMCH Police Camp, however, said five students injured in the clash were treated at the emergency and casualty wards of the hospital.

Kotwali Police Station Officer-in-charge C Abdul Karim confirmed the clash, stating that both sides hurled brickbats.

"Police intervened and dispersed the crowd. Two people were detained and are being questioned," he added.

Rijaur Rahman, senior joint convener of Bangladesh Ganatantrik Sangsad and former leader of Students Against Discrimination, said Shibir activists held some local positions within their coalition and may have been involved, but denied any role by the group's central leadership.

Islami Chhatra Shibir's Chattogram city president, Tanzir Hossain Jewel, denied involvement, saying, "I'm learning about this from the media like everyone else."

Meanwhile, the central unit of Ganatantrik Chhatra Jote held a torch procession on the Dhaka University campus yesterday evening, protesting the acquittal of Azharul and alleged attacks by Islami Chhatra Shibir on their activists at Rajshahi and Chittagong universities.

The procession began around 7:20pm from the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC), moving through the campus before ending at the Raju Sculpture.

A brief clash occurred in the Hall Para area between the protesters and a group they identified as Shibir activists. Both sides exchanged heated slogans before dispersing without further escalation.

At a rally following the procession, Chhatra Jote leaders labelled Shibir a "terrorist organisation" attempting to "infiltrate and rehabilitate" itself through other student bodies.

Fahim Ahmed Choudhury, general secretary of the Democratic Student Council, said, "Shibir attacked our rally against war criminals. Similar attacks happened today in Chattogram and yesterday in Rajshahi. This shows Shibir hasn't moved away from its anti-liberation stance of 1971."