Bangladesh: 150 injured in clashes after BNP tries to recruit students at engineering college

A major clash broke out among students at a university campus in Bangladesh’s southwest on Tuesday (February 18), leading to injuries to over 150 people. Both groups involved in the clashes played a major role in ousting former prime minister Sheikh Hasina last year, revealing major rifts in the student blocs that seemingly joined forces during the deadly August 2024 demonstrations.

The clashes began on Tuesday afternoon when the members of the youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) allegedly ran a recruitment campaign at the campus of the Khulna University of Engineering and Technology.

However, they were soon confronted by the members of the Students Against Discrimination group.

The confrontation led to clashes, following which at least 50 students were rushed to nearby hospitals, Khulna police officer Kabir Hossain told AFP.

“The situation is now under control, and an extra contingent of police has been deployed,” he added.

Communications student Jahidur Rahman told AFP that those hospitalised had injuries from thrown bricks and “sharp weapons”, and that around 100 others had suffered minor injuries.

Footage of the violence showing rival groups wielding scythes and machetes, along with injured students being carted to hospital for treatment, was widely shared on Facebook.

Both groups blamed the other for starting the violence, with the BNP student wing chief Nasir Uddin Nasir accusing members of Islamist political party Jamaat of agitating the situation to force a confrontation.

Jamaat activists “created this unwarranted clash”, he told AFP.

Local student Obayed Ullah told AFP that the BNP had defied a decision by the campus to remain free of activities by established political parties.

He added that there was “no presence” of Jamaat on campus.

The incident provoked outrage among students elsewhere in the country, with a protest rally held late Tuesday night to condemn the BNP’s youth wing at Dhaka University.

Students Against Discrimination launched protests last year that toppled Bangladesh’s former government and chased ex-leader Hasina into exile after 15 years of iron-fisted rule.

Activists from the BNP joined with student protesters in the final days of Hasina’s tenure, defying a bloody crackdown by security forces that killed hundreds.

The BNP is widely expected to win fresh elections slated to be held by the middle of next year under the supervision of the South Asian country’s current caretaker administration.

Student leaders have meanwhile struggled to parley their success in engineering Hasina’s fall into a durable political force.

(With inputs from AFP)