DHAKA, Bangladesh: Violent clashes broke out between students and members of the Ansar force near the Secretariat in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on Sunday night, leading to several injuries on both sides. The conflict began after 9 p.m., as students from various dormitories at Dhaka University gathered at the Raju Memorial Sculpture before marching to the Secretariat to confront the Ansar members, whom they labelled as “agents of autocracy.”
The confrontation followed reports that Ansar members had detained Nahid Islam, an adviser in the interim government and a coordinator of the Students Against Discrimination movement, along with other key figures such as Sarjis Alam and Hasnat Abdullah. This detention, seen as an escalation of tension, sparked the student protests.
During the chaos, police intervened in an attempt to restore order, but the situation remained volatile with both sides engaging in chases and confrontations. The students’ anger was further fuelled by a Facebook post from protest coordinator Hasnat Abdullah, who accused former Ansar Director General Maj Gen AKM Aminul Haque of orchestrating a blockade at the Secretariat despite the demands of the Ansar members being met earlier in the day.
Earlier, Ansar members had ended their two-day protest after receiving assurances from Lt Gen (Retd) Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, the interim government’s adviser for home affairs, that their jobs would be nationalized. However, tensions flared up again when students accused the Ansar force of trying to re-establish autocratic control.
The situation highlights the ongoing unrest in Bangladesh, where political and social tensions continue to provoke confrontations between different groups.
