At least 23 students and the deputy registrar of East West University were injured yesterday when the police opened fire and charged truncheons during a student demonstration in Rampura.
The incident took place when hundreds of university students blockaded the capital’s Badda Link Road near Aftabnagar, demanding the withdrawal of the 7.5% VAT imposed on private university tuition fees.
More than a hundred students gathered in front of their university campus in the afternoon to block the road as a form of protest. The police arrived soon after and requested the university authority to tell the students to move away from the streets as the demonstration was creating a traffic jam in the area.
As the EWU Vice-Chancellor Prof Ahmed Shafee and Proctor Anindita Paul tried to negotiate with the student, the police started charging truncheons to disperse the demonstrators.
At one point, the police also fired shotgun rounds at the students; the splinters from the bullets hit the additional registrar of the university, Mashfiqur Rahman, as well as the dispersing students.
The injured EWU official has since been admitted to the United Hospital, while at least three students are known to have undergone emergency surgeries to remove splinters from their bodies.
Other students received primary medical attention at the nearby Farazi Hospital.
However, when the Dhaka Tribune contacted Badda police station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Zalil, he denied allegations of the police firing any shots at protesting students.
The OC said around six people including himself were injured when the students hurled bricks at them.
Police sources also said the students vandalised several vehicles as they fled the scene.
Hundreds of students of the university continued their protests until 9:30pm in front of their campus.
The East West University authorities have announced that academic activities at the EWU will remain suspended today.
Meanwhile, agitated students have announced of staging separate protests in the city today. They will hold demonstrations in Rampura at 9am, in front of Jamuna Future Park at 11am and in Kakoli intersection at noon.
Ever since the FY2015-16 national budget introduced 7.5% value-added tax on private tertiary education, students of private universities have been staging demonstrations under the banner of “No VAT on Education.”
Last month, a student delegation met President Abdul Hamid and submitted a memorandum seeking withdrawal of the VAT.
However, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has expressed his opposition to the student movement, saying the VAT on tuition fees would not be lifted.
The National Board of Revenue has already served notices to the private tertiary education institutions to immediately register as VAT-paying entities and pay the VAT to the government exchequer.
In 2010, the government moved to impose indirect tax on private tertiary education, but had to pull out in the face of student protests.