Police disperse medical students from Shahbagh after hours of protests

Police have dispersed the medical college students who occupied the capital’s Shahbagh intersection demanding online classes as they refuse to sit for exams amid the coronavirus crisis.

Protesters arrived at Shahbagh at 11.30am Sunday and disrupted traffic. Later, police clubbed and dispersed them at around 1.15 pm. Some students clashed with the police at that time.

The protesters also demanded limiting tuition fees to 60 months at private medical colleges and the completion of courses in time.

The authorities have agreed that the students’ demands are ‘reasonable’ but are not doing anything about it, said one of the protesters.

“We have been carrying out various programmes over the last few days, but to no avail.”

The students met Shahryar Nabi, the dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Dhaka University, on Sunday to follow up on their demand for a written notice. “But the dean said he’ll inform us tomorrow. That’s why we have taken to the streets,” the protester said.

Earlier on Thursday, the students met the dean and expressed their demands. After receiving assurances from him, the students gathered at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Sunday in the hope of receiving a written notice. Hundreds of students subsequently started a march toward Shahbagh after not receiving any notice.

Police attempted to halt the march by putting up barricades in front of Shahbagh Police Station. But the students ignored the obstacles and moved towards the Shahbagh intersection and started chanting slogans.