DE Online Desk
At least, 30 people were injured when clashes broke out between students and Ansar personnel near the Secretariat in the capital on Sunday night.
Witnesses said the Secretariat turned into a battlefield on Sunday night after the clash broke out between students and Ansar personnel, leaving some 30 students injured.
In spite of accepting the demands of Ansar members, they confined advisers, officials and Anti-Discrimination Student Movement coordinators at the Secretariat.
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As the Ansar members remained seated, the advisors and officials could not leave the Secretariat.
Till 9:00pm on Sunday, several advisers including the Home Adviser remained confined at their offices inside the Secretariat. Coordinators Hasnat Abdullah and Sarjis Alam also remained confined at the Secretariat.
Hearing that two coordinators of Anti-Discrimination Students Movement remained confined at the Secretariat, hundreds of students from Dhaka University halls rushed towards the Secretariat to rescue them. After the students reached there, clashes broke out between the students and Ansar members.
During the clashes, students and Ansar personnel hurled brickbats against each other. Chase and counter-chase took place some time, leaving minimum 30 students injured.
Later, common people joined hands with the students. At one stage, Army personnel also arrived at the spot. Finding no other alternatives, the agitated Ansar members fled away being chased by students and people.
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Many of them were seen running away through GPO and Gulistan areas after taking their uniforms off.
Earlier, students from different halls of Dhaka University started assembling at the Raju Memorial Sculpture to march toward the Secretariat to confront Ansar personnel.
The development came after reports emerged that a group of Ansar members confined Hasnat Abdullah, an adviser in the interim government and a coordinator of the Students Against Discrimination Movement, along with coordinators Sarjis Alam, Hasnat Abdullah, and others at the Secretariat.
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Hasnat Abdullah in a Facebook post blamed former director general of Ansar, Maj Gen AKM Aminul Huque, for a continued blockade of the Secretariat, even after the demands of protesting Ansars were met.
Hasnat also urged everyone to gather in front of the Raju Memorial Sculpture at Dhaka University.
AKM Aminul Huque is the elder brother of former deputy minister of water resources AKM Enamul Huque Shamim.
“Everyone, come to Raju. The autocratic forces are trying to make a comeback through the Ansar force. Even after their demands were met, we were kept locked in the Secretariat.”
In the comments section of his post, he added: “All of this is being orchestrated by Enamul Huque Shamim, former MP from Shariatpur. His elder brother was the DG of Ansar, and these Ansar members were recruited by his brother.”
Ansar members called off their protest earlier in the day after receiving assurances from the interim government’s adviser for home affairs, Lt Gen (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury. The Ansar members had been protesting for two days, demanding the nationalization of their jobs.
At around 3pm, the adviser announced that the demands of the Ansar members would be met, prompting Nasir Mia, the coordinator of the movement, to call off the protest.
