Advisers stayed at Milestone for nine hours to defuse tensions without using force, says CA's press secy
Law and education advisers remained on the Milestone school campus for nine hours yesterday (22 July), not because they were forcibly confined the entire time, but because they were determined to defuse tensions without using force, Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam said today (23 July).
In a Facebook post, he wrote that the advisers were "prepared to stay for as long as necessary," and ultimately left "only when it was appropriate."
The three officials, Law Adviser Asif Nazrul, Education Adviser CR Abrar and Shafiqul Alam himself, went to the school around 10am yesterday to meet families of the deceased, injured students, and teachers affected by Monday's (21 July) deadly air force plane crash.
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But shortly after their arrival, students began demonstrating on the campus grounds, chanting slogans and demanding accurate information about casualties.
According to police, the advisers first attempted to leave around 4pm through the rear gate, but their convoy was obstructed by students near Diabari intersection.
They returned to the campus and were finally escorted out in police vehicles around 7:30pm, exiting through the metrorail depot's internal road.
Shafiqul said the advisers' decision to stay reflected their commitment to peaceful resolution.
"Although we could have left earlier, the advisers were committed to resolving the situation peacefully, without the use of force," he wrote.
In the post, he described the atmosphere on campus as "heavy with grief and anger," with many students expressing frustration over what they saw as conflicting reports about the number of deaths.
He pushed back against those allegations, stating from his own experience as a former disaster reporter that concealing casualty numbers in Bangladesh is "virtually impossible."
He said families initially list loved ones as missing, but identities are usually confirmed through hospital and school records.
To provide transparency, the advisers instructed the school to set up a control room that would regularly publish updated figures matched against school attendance records. Current students and alumni were to be involved in its operation.
"We anticipate it will be fully operational today," Shafiqul Alam's post read.
The health ministry and the military are also contributing to the casualty tracking effort, according to him.
"This was a national tragedy, and they are all martyrs. Let us work together to enhance our air defence systems to prevent future tragedies," Shafiqul Alam wrote.
