Around 50 detained protesters released

Between 40-50 students who were detained when they went to Ramna police station to ask for the release of three protesters who were detained from a sit-in program at the "Shikkha Odhikar Chattar" earlier on Wednesday have been released, protesters at Shahbagh have confirmed. Representatives of the students have announced nationwide, candle-lit demonstrations in protest of the detentions, to be held on Sunday. Rashedul Islam, coordinator of ‘Bangladesh Shadharan Chhatra Odhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad’, said: “police charged and foiled our peaceful movement intentionally. In the protest of this attack, we will observe candle-lit programs all around the country on Sunday.” Meanwhile, Hasan Al Mamun, vice-president of Haji Mohammad Mohosin Hall of DU, said: “We came to Ramna police station to release our three fellow protesters who were detained. Police detained around 40-50 more demonstrators there.” The 40-50 protesters were released at 9pm. Protesters who had stationed themselves at Shahbagh after hearing of the detentions began to disperse after news of the release circulated. Earlier, police used tear gas to disperse a gathering of protesters, seeking an amendment to the current quota system in the job sector, in front of the High Court. "Police suddenly fired tear gas at our peaceful protest," a demonstrator says | Dhaka TribuneDU students Sohrab Hossain from the Information Science and Library Management Department, masters student Jahir from the Business Administration Department and Arif from the History department were detained at the time. Shahbagh police station OC Abul Hasan said the three were detained for blocking roads, creating public suffering, and obstructing government duties. An organization of students held Wednesday’s protest at the "Shikkha Odhikar Chattar." Numerous students from various educational institutions in Dhaka thronged to the location ahead of the sit-in program.

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They brought out a procession to submit a memorandum to the Public Administration Ministry and paraded through the Dhaka University campus before coming in front of the High Court. After police obstructed the procession, the protesters took position at the "Shikkha Odhikar Chattar." They announced to start an indefinite sit-in protest unless they receive a response from the ministry within half an hour. The demonstrators announced five-point demands including calls to slash the quota in government jobs to 10% from the current 56%, not hold special exams to fill up quota posts, stop the use of quota facility more than once and fixing same cut-off marks and age for all in government jobs. It is unclear how many have been injured | Dhaka TribuneTanjir Toma, one of the protesters, said: “Our demand is to bring down the quota to 10%. Currently, 30% of the 56% quota is freedom fighter quota. This is discrimination. “There are hundreds of thousands of us who are not getting any goods jobs despite trying hard. On the other hand, those enjoying the quota can get jobs by putting in less efforts.” When asked why police had lobbed tear gas shells, Md Ujjal Mia, another demonstrator, said: “Police suddenly started firing tear gas at us disrupting our peaceful protests.” Several protesters were detained from the spot, police say | Dhaka TribuneDhaka Metropolitan Police DC Maruf defended their action, saying: “The High Court is a very important area. We told the demonstrators to leave the street and move but they did not. “So, we fired tear gas to disperse them. Several of them have been detained.”Sections of this article were first published on banglatribune.com