A group of private university students staged a protest at Dhaka University’s Madhur Canteen on Wednesday, alleging discrimination in the formation of a new student organization.
Tensions arose between two groups of students before the event.
The incident occurred around 4pm on Wednesday, as protesters claimed that private university students had been excluded from the new organization.
They chanted slogans such as "Break the DU syndicate, crush it" in opposition to what they saw as an unfairly Dhaka University-centric committee.
At the press conference venue, some students declared that they would not accept a syndicate committee that excluded private university students.
Meanwhile, another faction protested against the exclusion of former coordinator Rifat Rashid from the committee.
The demonstrations ultimately led to the cancellation of the press conference.
The protesters argued that Rifat Rashid deserved a key position in the central committee and also expressed dissatisfaction over the absence of committees in Uttara East and West.
Manjurul Islam, one of the protesting students, said: “The Anti-Discrimination Movement still does not have committees for Uttara East and West. Now they want to announce a new organization. This is undoubtedly discrimination.”
Another protester said: “Everyone is aware of Rifat Rashid’s role in the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. A committee without him cannot claim to have our mandate.”
Private university students emphasized that their contributions to the movement should not be ignored and that they would not accept a Dhaka University-only committee.
According to reports, the new student organization, formed by former coordinators of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, will be named "Bangladesh Gonotantrik Chhatra Songshod."
