Police and Jatiyotabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) central leaders removed protesting students from the Dhaka University (DU) campus citing security concerns.
Several police officials said the students were informed about Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s security, as he was attending an event on the campus around noon Tuesday.
The students, however, said they had no intention of engaging in violence. Their only demand is the immediate resignation of the education minister.
Earlier in the day, the students, mostly HSC examinees, engaged in a scuffle with police when law enforcers blocked their procession, triggering the confrontation in the DU area.
The protesters had marched toward the campus from Science Lab, where they staged a demonstration that blocked Mirpur Road.
The protest began in the Science Lab area around 11:30am as part of a previously announced programme. Over a hundred students from Dhaka College, City College, Ideal College, Notre Dame College, and other institutions joined the demonstration.
According to the students, they started the demonstration against the minister’s remarks and the decision to hold HSC examinations amid floods and severe weather conditions.
During the protest, they chanted slogans including “Who are you, who am I, farm chickens” and “One demand, one point — Milon must resign.”
Additional policemen were deployed in the area since morning to keep the situation under control. Several officers told TIMES that extra forces were on the ground to prevent untoward incidents.
Traffic movement in Science Lab area remained halted for an hour following the students’ road blockade programme.
