Baton charges, water cannons used on scrapped teaching appointees again

Police have used baton charges and water cannons to disperse a group of job seekers who had their appointments to government primary schools as assistant teachers scrapped by a High Court order even after they announced they would not “block the road”.

The dismissed applicants blocked Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection on Thursday afternoon.

After 2pm, the police tried to remove them from the thoroughfare, swinging batons and blasting water cannons. Despite the efforts of the police, the protesters continued to block the area.

Police then detained several of them, while some were injured in the incident.

Talukder Pias, a protest leader and applicant from Nagarkanda Upazila in Faridpur, said: "When we blocked Shahbagh in the afternoon, the police used water cannons and charged batons at us. Many of us were injured, and 12 people were detained by police."

After discussions with Primary and Mass Education Advisor Bidhan Ranjan Roy Podder, the job seekers had announced they would hold a protest that would not block the road. Despite the announcement, they still took to the streets on Thursday.

Asked about this, Pias said: “The job seekers blocked the road all of a sudden. We have been in the streets for a week, but there has been no solution. We want our appointments.”

Shahbagh Police Station OC Mohammad Khalid Mansur did not respond to a call for comment on the matter.

Earlier, the protesters had held a sit-in programme in front of the Directorate of Primary Education in Mirpur on Wednesday. On Thursday morning, they came to Shahbagh and took up their positions. Later, in the afternoon, they blocked the Shahbagh intersection.

On Feb 6, the High Court cancelled the appointments of 6,531 appointees to positions of teachers in government primary schools in the Dhaka and Chattogram divisions based on quotas.

The court ordered new results to be published based on merit. Candidates launched protests over the decision that same night.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education has appealed the decision with the High Court.

On Tuesday, after discussions with Primary and Mass Education's Advisor Podder and ministry officials at the Secretariat, the candidates announced a peaceful sit-in programme “that would not block the road”.

After the initial hearing of a writ petition filed by 30 job seekers, the High Court suspended the appointment process and issued a bench rule on Nov 19. As a result, the appointments of 6,531 successful candidates were scrapped. The decision on that rule was delivered last Thursday.

Abul Hashem, a candidate from Companyganj Upazila in Noakhali whose appointment was cancelled, told bdnews24.com: “We were given our appointment notices, written tests and oral tests before the Supreme Court reset the quota. The government selected us after conferring with the Ministry of Law and Public Administration. The verdict given by the High Court is discriminatory.”

On Monday afternoon, when the dismissed appointees blocked the Shahbagh intersection, police charged batons at them. Following the incident, they took up positions in front of the Jatiya Press Club and blocked the intersection again at night.

When they attempted to march towards the State Guest House Jamuna – the official residence of Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus – police charged at them using batons once again and dispersed the protest.

Asked about the protesters’ demands on Monday evening, Primary and Mass Education Advisor Bidhan Ranjan Roy Podder said: “The High Court has delivered its verdict. We are appealing for it to be reconsidered.”