Several journalists have been caught in the series of skirmishes between New Market shopkeepers and Dhaka College students in Dhaka.
The clash started around midnight on Monday when an argument over a food bill turned violent. The confrontation restarted around 9:00 am when both sides took to the streets. It took until 12:45 pm for police to come out in force with armoured cars and riot gear.
Two groups of journalists were covering the event, one near the Dhaka College area and another near the New Market area, said bdnews24.com Senior Correspondent Kamal Hossain from the scene. At one point, the shopkeepers attacked the media. Some journalists were seriously injured, with some bleeding from their heads, reports bdnews24.com.
“There was an argument with the television journalists and those carrying still cameras and TV cameras. They attacked them with their bare hands,” Hossain said. “Another group of shopkeepers then came and rescued the journalists. Ekantor TV’s Mohin Mizan and the photojournalist who accompanied him were beaten. Deepto TV’s Asif Sumit was caught in the attack, as was SA TV journalist Tuhin and cameraman Kabir. Shopkeepers also attacked and chased off other media workers who were broadcasting on their mobile phones or on Facebook Live.”
Another bdnews24.com correspondent at the scene, Md Rasel Sarker, said he had seen at least six journalists injured by brickbats.
The shopkeepers also vandalised an ambulance that was carrying a patient, he said.
There was no police presence in the area this morning despite the resurgence of clashes. Finally, around 12:50 pm, police from the New Market Police Station came on APCs with water cannons.
Asked why police were so late to the scene, Mohammad Sajjadur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Ramna Division Police, said students were blocking the road in front of the college gates when a violence broke out suddenly between the two sides. Police were speaking to business leaders and the college administration at the time to find a peaceful solution to the issue at the time.
This caused the delay, he said.
Some police officials at the scene also remarked that police would not have an advantageous position if they tried to insert themselves into the clash.
When concerns were raised that the unchecked skirmishes could cause greater damage, a police official at the additional commissioner level said that police intervention would lead to a three-way confrontation. Because police had been unable to position themselves between the two sides at the start, they were trying to resolve the situation through dialogue and a ‘softer approach’.
The official cited previous experience of clashes in the area saying that no matter how much the two sides went back and forth, the students would not enter the market and the shopkeepers would stay off the Dhaka College campus.
A little before police arrived at the scene, students from Dhaka University’s residential halls led a protest march to the Nilkhet intersection to voice their support for the Dhaka College students. The march proceeded through the Nilkhet intersection to the New Market intersection before returning to campus.
20 TAKEN TO HOSPITAL
At least 20 people – including shopkeepers, students, pedestrians, hawkers and journalists – were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital with injuries.
A few of the injured were identified as ‘Sajjad’, ‘Selim’, ‘Raju’, ‘Kawser’, ‘Rahad’, ‘Alif’, ‘Yasin’, ‘Rubel’, ‘Raju’, journalist Asif and SA TV cameraman Kabir Hossain.
A few of them had injuries on their heads and were transferred to the Department of Neurosurgery, said Dr Md Alauddin, resident of the DMCH Emergency Division.
The rest are receiving treatment in the emergency room.
“About 20 people have been brought in so far, but none of them are in danger. Several of them were released after we administered first aid. The rest are being treated,” he said.