Protest spreads countrywide

Four nursing colleges of the country continued their demonstrations yesterday protesting an attack on four student nurses allegedly by interns at Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College Hospital early Monday.
The agitation began at the Sylhet medical college soon after the incident. The next day Rangpur, Barisal and Chittagong nursing colleges expressed their solidarity with the protest programmes of their central association, Bangladesh Basic Graduate Students Nurses Association.
Their major demands are cancellation of the internship of the responsible interns and they threatened to launch tougher movement if the interns are not punished.
The students of Sylhet Nursing College yesterday staged a sit-in on their campus and also had a meeting with General Secretary of Sylhet Chapter of Bangladesh Medical Association Morshed Ahmed Chowdhury, also principal of the Osmani medical college.
Morshed assured them of taking proper measures.
Shilpi Rani Chakravarty, principal of the nursing college, said a committee from the health ministry and the nursing directorate will arrive today to further investigate the incident.
A five-member committee, headed by a professor of the Osmani medical college, is probing the incident, informed an official of the hospital.
Brig Gen Mizanur Rahman, director of the hospital, yesterday said measures would be taken following the probe reports.
The authorities on Tuesday closed the nursing college indefinitely and asked the students to vacate the dormitories, but they did not follow the order.
As part of the centrally announced programme, the students of Rangpur, Chittagong and Barisal nursing colleges yesterday boycotted their classes and duties at their affiliated medical hospitals from 9:00am to 12:00 noon.
The students of Barisal Nursing College during their procession on Barisal Sher-e-Bangla Medical College campus also demanded inclusion of representatives from the central association in the probe committee to make the investigation fair and credible, our Barisal correspondent reports.
In Rangpur, students brought out a procession on their campus while held a rally on Rangpur Medical College Hospital premises, reports our Rangpur correspondent.
Chittagong Nursing College's students organised a rally on the campus demanding a safe working environment for them.
They said they would also observe work abstention for the same period today but will attend the exams.