Play store
At least 15 people were injured after activists of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) and Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir clashed at Jagannath University in Dhaka on Tuesday.
Among the injured are Shibir’s Jagannath University unit president Abdul Alim Arif and JCD convening committee member Yasin Saif. They were admitted to National Medical College Hospital for treatment.
The violence later spread to the hospital, where members of the two student organisations chased each other, prompting police intervention.
According to witnesses, the clash began at around 11:45 am after University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman Prof. Mamun Ahmed arrived at the university’s central auditorium to attend a programme.
Following the initial clash, JCD activists reportedly drove Shibir members off the campus.
Around 2:00 pm, Shibir activists from different units gathered at National Medical College Hospital, while JCD activists assembled outside the hospital gate, chanting slogans. The situation escalated when the two groups engaged in a chase and counter-chase, hurling bricks at each other. Several participants were also seen carrying locally made weapons.
Police deployed additional personnel inside and outside the hospital to bring the situation under control.
Sutrapur Police Station Officer-in-Charge Matiur Rahman said the two groups first clashed on the university campus before the violence resumed at the hospital, where injured activists had been taken for treatment.
Assistant Commissioner Fazlul Haque of Kotwali Zone under the Dhaka Metropolitan Police said tensions erupted after some students sought to present their demands to the UGC chairman during the university programme.
The confrontation eventually escalated into brick-throwing between the two sides. Although the situation was later brought under control, tensions remain high.
JCD leaders alleged that Shibir and its allies attempted to disrupt the programme where the UGC chairman was hearing students’ demands, prompting students to resist them.
Meanwhile, Shibir leaders accused JCD activists of launching an unprovoked attack while they were preparing to raise demands over student accommodation, the university’s second campus, and alleged irregularities surrounding the TSC project.
The hospital clash also caused panic among patients and their relatives.
“I came here for my niece’s treatment. Suddenly I saw clashes outside the hospital, and everyone became frightened,” said Jamal Hossain, a visitor at the hospital.
