Teachers, students and employees of Dhaka University will wear black badges and abstain from classes today to mark the fourth anniversary of the August 2007 campus protests against repression.
The university authorities decided to observe August 23 as a 'black day' to mark the wholesale arrest of students and teachers after the campus protests on August 20-23, 2007.
They will hold a discussion at the foot of Aparajeyo Bangla in front of the Arts Building at 10:30am, and classes from 11:00am to 1:00 will remain closed.
The campus protests in August were sparked off when some army personnel assaulted some students in the university playground during a football match between two departments on 20 August, 2007. Two university teachers were also assaulted by the army men housed in a temporary camp in the gymnasium.
The protests later flared up elsewhere, including major educational institutions in Dhaka and across the country.
The Dhaka University Teacher Association's general secretary Anwar Hossain and executive committee member Harun-ur-Rashid were arrested on 23 August, 2007 in connection with the protests.
The association's president Sadrul Amin and Neem Chandra Bhowmick and a number of students were also arrested later.
Dhaka University students on Saturday observed the fourth anniversary of their protests against military oppression of fellow students who were demanding punishment of the assailants and restoration of democratic rights.
Student organisations staged rallies and held roundtable discussions, took out processions and held an exhibition of photographs and newspaper clippings to commemorate the protests against the highhandedness of the uniformed personnel.
The Bangladesh Chhatra Moitree held a roundtable discussion in the conference room of Dhaka University Central Students' Union.
Students regretted that no action has been taken so far against the assailants, the top brass of the army who backed the two-year emergency caretaker administration or its chief adviser.
They demanded the timely holding of DUCSU elections for establishing the democratic rights of the students on the campus.
At the discussion students demanded punishment of the personnel of the army, DGFI, police, RAB, and other agencies who were involved in the oppression of students and teachers, and compensation for the tortured students.
The Progressive Students Alliance and Bangladesh Chhatra Union took out processions and staged rallies on the campus to show their respect for the participants of the 2007 campus protests.
The student leaders demanded restoration of the democratic rights of students and an end to harassment of common students by the activists of Awami League's student front.
The parliamentary standing committee on education ministry has been probing the oppression of students and teachers by the army in 2007.
But its summons have been ignored by the then chief adviser, Fakhruddin Ahmed, the then army chief, Moeen U Ahmed, and military intelligence officials Chowdhury Fazlul Bari and ATM Amin.
Source : New Age
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