50 hurt as Chhatra Dal, general students clash in and around KUET

Activists of Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student wing of BNP, clashed with general students at KUET for hours on Tuesday as tensions erupted over the existing ban on student politics on campus.

At least 50 people from both groups have sustained injuries after the clashes erupted at the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET). The general students were led by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, which led last year's anti-fascist mass uprising.

As the clashes spread beyond campus boundaries, BNP members joined the fight on Chhatra Dal's side, while activists from Chhatra Shibir and Anti-Discrimination Student Movemetn came to the support of students.

Khan Jahan Ali Police Station Officer-in-Charge Kabir Hossain confirmed the clashes in a conversation with reporters. Law enforcers are trying their best to contain the situation, he said. Two platoons of BGB personnel as well as army troops, Navy personnel and RAB officers have been deployed to the scene.

At 7pm Tuesday, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement was set to hold a march and a rally at the Raju Sculpture on Dhaka University campus, protesting against the clash. In a facebook post, the student front urged all concerned to participate to "resist the Chhatra Dal terror."

Until 5 August last year, KUET was largely controlled by Chhatra League, but the fall of Awami League government on the day has kept the campus free from student politics ever since.

On Monday, Chhatra Dal activists distributed leaflets calling for the resumption of student politics on KUET campus.

Protesting the JCD move, the general students, led by Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, staged marches throughout the campus on Tuesday. In the morning, they also besieged the vice chancellor's house, prompting a protests from Chhatra Dal activists. In the noon, the students again marched through the campus chanting slogans in support of banning student politics.

While crossing the KUET central mosque, the students came in close contact with a group of Chhatra Dal members. A heated exchange erupted, and eventually, the students chased away the Chhatra Dal activists.

Around 2pm, some Chhatra Dal-supported outsiders severely beat a student outside a KUET entry point, and left the injured youth within the campus premises.

Tensions surged as the news of the attack broke out. Shibir, Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and general students together started chasing Chhatra Dal activists to drive them out of the campus, only to be met with BNP reinforcements outside.

Chhatra Dal activists alleged some members of the now banned Chhatra League outfit, as well as the “Shibir faction” in Anti-Discrimination Student Movement want to obstruct Chhatra Dal’s political activities, leading to Tuesday’s clashes.

General students, on the other hand, said they were protesting against beating of students by Chhatra Dal members, snatching of microphone by them and their call for resuming student politics on campus.

On Tuesday noon, Chhatra Dal activists brought in outsiders to resist the general students, leading to a clash.

In a facebook post, Abdul Hanna Masud, a central leader of Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, alleged Chhatra Dal activists attacked student at KUET in the same manner the now-banned Chhatra League did during the Awami League regime.

Tuesday’s clash only paved the way for putting an end to Chhatra Dal’s political activities, he said.