‘Came back from death’s door’: CU students recount clash with locals

Recounting the clash between Chittagong University (CU) students and locals yesterday (31 August), Mahmudul Hasan, an English department student from the 2019-20 session, said he narrowly escaped death.

Speaking from Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), where he awaited surgery, he said, "I was leaving my house and fell into the clutches of locals. Before I could understand what was happening, they slashed my neck. I blocked it with my hand, and it hit my right wrist. The ligament is torn. They told me to call someone one last time. It's like I returned from the jaws of death."

He added that Proctor Professor Tanvir Haider Arif of Chittagong University was also attacked when he came to rescue the students trapped in the area.

"The locals came and attacked proctor sir. He fell to the ground and was struggling to breathe. After that, I got trapped there. They told me they would kill me," he recounted.

The clash erupted late Saturday night (30 August) and continued till yesterday morning, leaving nearly 700 injured on both sides, according to sources.

Photo: TBS

Another student, Md Tariqul Alam from the Finance Department, alleged that the police did not help while they were being attacked.

"As I was walking from the railway crossing to the Gate No 1 area, three people wearing helmets came and started beating me. They slashed me with sharp weapons. They told me to run. When I ran, they hit me again. A police car passed right in front of me, but they did not even stop for a moment."

Nishad Talukdar, a first-year student of Geography and Environmental Studies, recounted being struck as he accompanied the proctor to rescue students trapped in nearby houses.

"I was attacked before I could even understand anything," he said.

Other students reported similar accounts of being targeted by locals simply for being identified as students.

Tofayel Ahmed, a first-year student of Islamic History and Culture, said, "At the railway crossing, some people grabbed me and beat me up after hearing I was a student. They hit me on the head with a brick."

A Sports Science student, Rajan Raj (2022-23) said many were attacked while coming down from their rented houses to eat.

Modern Languages student Mosharraf Hossain Fahad added, "Based on how the villagers attacked, it seemed to us they were very well prepared. They attacked us with local weapons."

Md Roman Rahman, a Bangladesh Studies student (2020-21), said he lay in a paddy field for about an hour after being slashed in the leg.

"They said they would kill me. Someone with me pleaded that he was an orphan and asked them to let him go. Our mobile phones were taken away. Later, another person intervened and released us," he said.

The unrest began on Saturday night when a female student was harassed by a security guard near CU's Gate No 2. When her peers tried to bring the guard to the university proctor's office, locals gathered through loudspeaker announcements and attacked with crude weapons. 

Clashes resumed on Sunday morning, when Pro-Vice Chancellor (Administration) Professor Kamal Uddin, the proctor, and several teachers and students were injured while trying to help the students trapped in the area.

Professor Kamal alleged that cadres of Awami League's youth wing Jubo League, and the banned student unit Chhatra League were among the attackers.

He said he sought help from police, the army, the home affairs adviser, and the chief adviser's office, but received no timely response.

Vehicles of the proctorial body and law enforcement agencies were also vandalised.

Following the violence, CU authorities suspended classes and examinations until further notice.

According to the District Civil Surgeon, 77 injured people were treated at CMCH, 24 at Parkview Hospital, and 10 at Hathazari Upazila Health Complex, yesterday.

CMCH Deputy Director Md Ilias Chowdhury said 30 were admitted on Saturday night and 77 more yesterday, with patients receiving treatment in neurosurgery, orthopaedics, and casualty wards.

One critically injured student was shifted to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation in Dhaka for advanced treatment, while another is in the ICU at a private hospital in Chattogram after undergoing head surgery.

Army was deployed, and the local administration imposed Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) in the area following repeated clashes.