Tit-for-tat chases and attacks have taken place between two factions of Chhatra Dal over establishing dominance in Barishal. In protest, both sides held demonstrations on the BM College campus and blocked the road, spreading intense tension across the whole campus area.
The tension continued at Barishal Government Brojomohun (BM) College from Monday (June 22) evening until about 9:45 p.m. On receiving the news, police and senior Chhatra Dal leaders reached the scene and brought the situation under control.
According to campus sources, a sudden scuffle broke out at around 12 noon on Monday on the city’s Zia Road between the joint convener of the college-unit Chhatra Dal, Ratul, and the former member-secretary of the sadar upazila Chhatra Dal, Al Amin Mridha. Ratul is a resident student of the college’s Ashwini Kumar hostel.
Following the noon incident, after evening a group of Chhatra Dal workers led by Al Amin allegedly entered the Ashwini Kumar hall with sticks and severely beat Ratul and ordinary students of the hall.
As news of the beating inside the hall spread, angry students came out of the hostel with sticks and began a protest, blocking the main road beside the college. All traffic on the busy road came to a complete halt, creating a severe jam.
The other Chhatra Dal faction, however, claimed that the district Chhatra Dal member-secretary, Al Amin, had been attacked on Zia Road on Monday evening by the BM College Chhatra Dal faction leader Ratul and his associates. As the news spread, the member-secretary’s followers took position in front of the campus and protested.
The convener of Barishal city Chhatra Dal, Enamul Hasan Tasnim, said that, on getting the news, he had gone to the scene and calmed both sides. When Ratul tried to block the road with a group of people, the situation was handled with the help of police, he said, adding that the campus was now calm.
The Deputy Commissioner (North) of the Barishal Metropolitan Police, Mohammad Imdad Hussain, said several police teams had gone to the scene and brought the situation under control. The tension had arisen out of an internal feud, he said, adding that the situation was now normal with both sides present.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report