The teachers of independent Ebtedayee madrasas -- primary-level seminaries under the madrasa board – are observing a sit-in at Shahbagh today after police charged batons and used water cannons to disperse them yesterday.
The teachers spent last night on the streets under the open sky to press for their six-point demands, including nationalisation of all registered institutions.
Yesterday, the police used batons and water cannons to disperse the teachers as they were heading to the Chief Adviser's Office to submit a memorandum, urging fulfilment of their demands. Several teachers were injured.
Protesting the police action and to further press for their demands, the teachers protesting under the banner of "Swatantra Ebtedayee Madrasa Shikkhak Oikyojote," (translating to independent ebtedayee madrasa teachers unit) immediately began a sit-in in front of the Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University.
"We were attacked by the police in the day and suffered due to cold at night, but we did not leave. We will continue our campaign until our demands are met," said Rabiul Islam, a madrasa teacher.
Like Rabiul, several hundred teachers are demonstrating at Shahbagh.
Also an executive member of the teachers' platform, Rabiul said a four-member team is meeting with officials of Ramna Division Police and a meeting is likely to be held with the education ministry high-ups later.
The teachers have been staging demonstrations for many years, and most recently, they started a sit-in in front of Jatiya Press Club for the past several days to press home their six-point demands, including the nationalisation of madrasas, similar to primary schools.
Source: The Daily Star