Pry school teachers: Cops use water cannons, batons on protesters

Police yesterday charged batons and used water cannons to disperse a procession of non-government primary school teachers demanding nationalisation of their institutions.

At least six people, including two women, were hurt in the incident near the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka. They took primary treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, said hospital sources.

Police and witnesses said the incident took place around 1:30pm when the teachers started a procession towards the state guest house Jamuna, the residence of Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, from the Jatiya Press Club to press their demand.

Shahinur Rahman, one of the injured, told reporters that they were marching towards Jamuna with a legitimate demand, but police used water cannons and charged batons on them.

Police said a protest procession of the teachers was marching towards Jamuna from the Jatiya Press Club when police tried to stop them near the Kadam Foara

Khalid Mansur, officer-in-charge (OC) of Shahbagh Police Station, said a protest procession of the teachers was marching towards Jamuna when police tried to stop them near the Kadam Foara.

A scuffle took place between police and the protesters, forcing police to use water cannon to control the situation, the OC added.

Under the banner of "Bangladesh Non-government Primary Teachers Association," a section of teachers have been demanding nationalisation of their primary schools for a long time.

According to the agitating teachers, the government nationalised 26,193 primary schools that were established before May 9, 2012. But around 4,000 primary educational institutions were not included in the third phase of the nationalisation process, despite fulfilling the prerequisites.