Rajshahi Correspondent: The administration of Rajshahi University (Rabi) has announced the closure of classes and examinations after clashes between students and local businessmen. On Sunday, March 12, and Monday, March 13, class examinations will be closed. The class examination will start again on Tuesday, March 14.
On Saturday (March 11), an emergency notice signed by the administrator of the university’s public relations department, Prof. Pradeep Kumar Pandey, announced the closure of class exams, citing unavoidable reasons.
According to the notification, this decision has been taken by the honorable vice chancellor. Classes and exams will continue as usual from next Tuesday (March 14).
On the other hand, due to the clash, a large number of police and RAB members, as well as 7 platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) members, have been deployed in the university and adjacent Binodpur area. In the night, along with the police and RAB, members of the paramilitary forces of the BGB have taken up positions in Binodpur and on the university campus.
Eyewitnesses said that during the clash, a large number of shops in Binodpur market, including the police camp near the university’s Binodpur gate, were set on fire.
According to eyewitness sources, Alamin Akash, a student of the 2017-18 session of the Sociology Department of the University, was coming to Rajshahi in a bus operated by Mohammad Transport from Bogra. First sitting on the bus seat and then taking the hire car supervisor Ripon and the driver Shariful, they were murmuring in the sky bus. Akash told his classmates on the phone. Those students of Akash were waiting in Binodpur before 6 p.m. When the bus reached Binodpur, there was another dispute with the contactor at the university’s Binodpur gate.
Then several local shopkeepers came and got into an argument with Akash and his fellow students. At one point, there was a clash between the two sides. When the students of the sociology department of the university tried to block the road at the spot, the locals united and attacked the students of the university. Then the university students also tried to counterattack.
Chhatra League president Golam Kibria quickly arrived there to calm the situation after getting the news. At that time, when the locals started throwing bricks at the students of the university along with the BCL president, the students and Kibria stayed inside the campus.
On hearing this news, the students of Motihar Hall, Bangabandhu Hall, Sher-e-Bangla Hall, Nawab Abdul Latif Hall, Shah Makhdoom Hall, and Ameer Ali Hall near Binodpur went to Binodpur market with sticks and tree branches and started vandalizing and burning shops. At that time, the locals kept throwing brickbats at the students on the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway. During this time, there was a massive clash between the university students and the locals, with several chases. At 7:30 in the evening, a large number of police and RAB members were stationed at the scene of the incident, and the clash stopped. At one point, someone set fire to the police camp adjacent to Binodpur Gate. When this news spread, the students at the university became more angry.
A number of journalists, including a university representative of Bangladesh Daily, were injured while performing their professional duties during the clash.
According to the medical center of the university, at least 25 students received first aid treatment due to injuries in different parts of the body, including the head, hands, and feet. 10 seriously injured students have been sent to Rajshahi Medical Hospital.
Going to the ground, it can be seen that several hundred students were attacking and setting fire to the Binodpur market by taking a position on the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway at the Binodpur gate until 10:30 p.m. On the other hand, locals were throwing bricks at the students from the south side of Binodpur market. Earlier, 7th and 8th grade students were attacked by locals on their way to the mess in Binodpur. Locals also attacked the journalist.
Akash, an injured student of the printing department, said, I was on the road, and suddenly, the locals attacked. He began to beat indiscriminately. Another injured student said, I went towards the gate after hearing the fight, and my head was cut by a brick thrown from outside. Apart from setting fire to a large number of shops in Binodpur Bazar, several motorcycles from both sides were reported to have been set on fire.
