Agitated students on Tuesday rocked the streets across the country, placing several demands in reaction to Monday’s tragic crash of the BAF F-7 BGI training aircraft at Milestone School in the capital’s Uttara.
They staged daylong protests in front of the Milestone campus, holding two interim government advisers and the chief adviser’s press secretary under siege for nine hours. Later, they breached the security cordon to enter the Secretariat.
Law enforcers charged batons and fired tear gas canisters to drive out the students who entered the important government establishment. Consequently,
many of the protesters were injured, and around 90 of them were taken to Dhaka Medical College for treatment.
Besides, students of different schools and colleges staged demonstration, blocking roads and highways in different parts of the country in support of their six-point demands, which include publishing a complete list of the deceased and injured, providing appropriate compensation to the families of victims and bringing an overhaul in the training system and fields of the Bangladesh Air Force apart from purchasing modern aircraft, cancelling the old and risky ones.
Police fired tear gas, sound grenades to disperse students at Secretariat
A clash broke out between demonstrating students and law enforcement agencies in front of the Secretariat on Tuesday afternoon, resulting in the use of sound grenades and tear gas shells to disperse the protesters.
The confrontation began around 4:10pm when law enforcers drove the students out of the Secretariat premises. Before that, a group of students managed to breach the main gate and entered the Secretariat premises at 3:45pm, vandalising several parked vehicles.
Following the incident, members of the police and army intervened and forcefully removed the students from the premises.
The eviction led to a chaotic scene outside the Secretariat, where chase and counter-chase ensued between law enforcement personnel and protestors.
Earlier on the day, a large number of students gathered in front of Gate 1 of the Secretariat around 2:30pm, demanding the resignation of the education adviser and the secretary. Chanting different slogans, including “Amar Bhai Morlo Keno, Proshashon Jobab Chai” (Why did my brother die, administration must answer) and “Bhua Bhua” (Fraud, Fraud), the protestors expressed outrage over what they termed administrative negligence.
“After such a tragic incident at Milestone College, why was not today’s HSC exam immediately postponed? Why they waited until 3am to take such a decision? We no longer want to see such irresponsible officials in charge of our education,” Rishad Hossain, an HSC candidate from Dhaka Imperial College, told the Daily Sun.
There was a prescheduled programme in front of the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Dhaka office, announced by the students demanding re-evaluation of answer scripts for students who failed in the recent SSC examinations. Many of them marched to the Secretariat from there.
Law enforcers said they charged with batons only when protesters vandalised cars inside the Secretariat.
Were all of the protesters students?
Allegations have surfaced regarding the presence of third-party involvement in the demonstration amid the conflict between students and law enforcement in front of the Secretariat.
According to eyewitnesses and sources on the ground, a group of 20-25 unidentified individuals was seen regrouping in front of Baitul Mukarram Mosque shortly after the situation calmed at the Secretariat premises.
A Daily Sun reporter, present at the scene, observed several of these individuals exchanging student ID cards, a behaviour that drew further suspicion.
When asked about the incident, a student from Dhaka Imperial College, who was among the protesters, denied any knowledge of such activities or third-party involvement.
The Daily Sun reporters confirmed that a number of these individuals were later spotted loitering in nearby market areas around Baitul Mukarram.
Upon receiving the information, police launched an attack on them. But the individuals reportedly fled in different directions.
Two advisers, press secretary, freed from Milestone College after 9 hrs
Students of Milestone School and College and several nearby educational institutions took to the streets on Tuesday morning, placing six-point demands.
At one stage, when Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Prof Asif Nazrul, Education Adviser Prof CR Abrar, and Chief Adviser’s Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, went there to visit the Milestone campus at 10:30am, protesters besieged them and chanted different slogans blaming the government for mishandling the overall situation following the tragic Air Force jet crash.
The advisers then sat with a team of representatives of the protesters and accepted all their demands in principle, but the students outside continued their demonstrations.
After a four-and-a-half-hour delay, the advisers tried to leave the premises but were confronted by a large group of students chanting slogans and blocking their way. Later, they were compelled to return inside the college building.
Protesters gathered outside the college gates, shouted various slogans, demanding accountability and swift action from authorities. Many guardians also joined the protests in the afternoon.
Taskia Jannat, a guardian of a student of the Milestone School, said that his son also could be the victim of Monday’s jet crash.
“What did the government do so far? They have no transparency and accountability in works. Teachers of the school sacrificed their lives only to save their students. But the law enforcers assaulted them indiscriminately. We demand security for our children. Besides, proper treatment must be ensured and appropriate compensation should be provided to the victims’ families,” she said.