Protests rage on as teachers back DU students

Police fired teargas Tuesday to quell protests that spilled into its second day amid a strike at Dhaka University as more than 1,000 angry students marched through the troubled campus. The marauding students smashed several vehicles at Shahbagh and Nilkhet on the fringe of the campus as the overnight battle raged on. The demonstrators also set fire to an army car in front of Aziz Super Market in Shahbagh. They attacked an army driver who suffered head injuries and was taken to hospital. The Dhaka University Teachers Association has thrown their weight behind the students demanding army pullout from the campus. The association, after an emergency meeting, demanded the army camp be withdrawn from the campus by Wednesday noon, said Professor Akhteruzzaman, a member of the association. The university Syndicate also sat in a meeting to review the situation. Sirajul Islam, convenor of the provost standing committee, speaking separately to reporters, condemned Monday night's police action at the dormitories. The students of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) linked their hands on their campus to protest the army action on the DU students. The protests spilled over into other institutions including the Jahangirnagar University, as students boycotted class and put up barricades on Dhaka-Aricha highway for a while. They smashed several passing vehicles on the highway and briefly clashed with police. The protests are the first major defiance of the restrictions clamped under the emergency rules. More than 100 students were injured in violent clashes with troops and police Monday night after the students burst into protest against army action. bdnews24.com correspondents and photographers said the situation on the DU campus became volatile Tuesday morning after students came out of their dormitories defying tight security.