Students from Rajshahi University, Barisal University and Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet have held protests demanding fair water-sharing agreements with India and protesting sudden floods caused by the opening of the Dumbur dam in Tripura.
At about 1am on Thursday, students from BU staged a protest march on the Barisal-Kuakata highway in front of the university, gathering on campus from residential dorms and nearby messes, and the protest then moved onto the highway.
The students chanted slogans such as "Delhi or Dhaka, Dhaka, Dhaka" and "Stop India’s aggression."
After the protest, the students held a rally on campus, where they condemned what they said was India's double standards.
One student, Imran Hossain, referring to Dhaka-Delhi relations, said friendship should be based on fairness and equality, not on dominance.
“Damming international rivers is unacceptable. This is not a natural disaster but an artificial flood created by India."
JnU students hold protest blaming India for flash floods in BangladeshAt around 11:30pm on Wednesday, small processions emerged from various residential dorms of RU, converging at Zoha Chattar in front of the Shahid Syed Nazrul Islam Administration Building. The protest then moved to the Talaimari intersection via the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway in front of the main gate of the university.
During the protest, the students chanted slogans such as "Return our river rights," "If you want freedom, abandon loyalty to India," "Beware, India's agents" and "Who am I? Who are you? Abrar, Abrar."
Students from Sust also staged a protest. Their protest march circled the university’s main road, roundabout and the female dormitory before concluding back at the roundabout.
They also held a brief rally during the protest.
The Sust students chanted slogans like "Delhi or Dhaka, Dhaka, Dhaka," "On this day, we remember you, Abrar," "When people die in floods, we remember you, Abrar" and "If you want freedom, abandon loyalty to India."
At the rally, Delwar Hossain, one coordinator of the recent Students Against Discrimination movement, said: "Fifteen years of fascist misrule and subservient attitudes have turned us into slaves of India. India's dominance is eroding harmony among the people of Bangladesh. A people's government has now been established in Bangladesh which does not serve Indian interests. We hope that India will think a hundred times before causing such incidents in the future."
Notably, amid concern about an onrush of floodwaters from upstream in India said there was a problem in the communication of flood data with Bangladesh on Wednesday due to a flood-induced power outage in Tripura.
The Indian External Affairs Ministry said it was not correct that the floods in Bangladesh had been caused by the opening of the Dumbur dam upstream of the Gumti River in Tripura.
