Students and teachers of different public and private universities, along with other professionals, continued their protests on Thursday, seeking justice for the killings in the recent quota reform movement, the end of arrests, and harassment by law-enforcing agencies.

Dhaka University teachers and students criticised law enforcers as the latter cordoned off the campus, preventing their entry to the place, while police picked up 12 students while they were joining a scheduled programme at Barishal University.

New Age staff correspondent in Rajshahi reported that teachers and students scuffled with law enforcers in plainclothes as they attempted to pick up several students from the Rajshahi University campus following a demonstration under the banner of the University Teachers’ Network.

The plainclothes law enforcers also assaulted two journalists during the incident.

At the end of the demonstration, a group of law enforcers equipped with sticks and iron rods suddenly grabbed some students and started moving hastily towards the police van, witnesses said.

Noticing that the students were being taken away, the teachers and students attempted to stop the law enforcers, resulting in a scuffle with the police.

Amid obstructions from teachers and students, at one stage, the law enforcers were forced to release all the students they grabbed.

Mass communication and journalism department professor Abdullah Al Mamun said that law enforcers carried out an attack on their peaceful programme.

‘Arresting someone on suspicion is wrong. I will say, please stop this. We will never accept that you, the police, attack our students, our teachers,’ he added.

Mohammad Hemayatul Islam, additional police commissioner, crime and operations, of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, explained that they primarily detained a student to

talk about why he misbehaved with one of their members.

Meanwhile, teachers of different public and private universities criticised the law enforcers for preventing them from entering the Dhaka University campus for the prescheduled programme at the base of Aparajeyo Bangla, demanding an end to wholesale arrest and harassment of students, remembering and seeking justice for those killed during the recent student movements in demand of quota systems in government jobs.

DU assistant professor Rushad Faridi said that teachers of the university and some other universities could not join the programme as law enforcers blocked all the entry gates of the university.

Criticising the government’s role during the protest, DU physics department professor Kamrul Hassan said that students and teachers became victims of state repression.

‘Such repression will not stop until justice is ensured for every injustice and killing,’ said Kamrul.

Mentioning the government as ‘the killer’ of the protesters, DU law department professor Asif Nazrul said that the government could not ensure justice for the killings.

The professor demanded the resignation of the government, saying that it was arresting victims instead of ensuring justice for them.

Teachers of North South University, Eastern University, Jagannath University, and the University of Asia Pacific were among those who raised the same demands, including the immediate release of the arrested students and people related to the protests, the withdrawal of curfew, and the opening of all educational institutions.

Cultural activists organised a programme titled Bhoyhin-Nejjya-Manobik Morjadar Bangladesh Chai in front of Ananda Cinema Hall near Farm Gate to declare solidarity with the students’ nine-point demand in the ongoing anti-quota student movement.

Cultural activist Mamunur Rashid, photographer and rights activist Shahidul Alam, and filmmakers Akram Khan, Amitabh Reza Chowdhury, Nurul Alam Atique, and Ashfaq Nipun, among others, joined the protests.

New Age correspondent from Barishal reported that police picked up 12 students in the morning from in front of Barishal University while joining the scheduled programme ‘Remembering Our Heroes’ to realise their nine-point charter of demands, including an unconditional apology from prime minister Sheikh Hasina by taking responsibility for the killings, removal of certain ministers from government and party, sacking and trial of police officials responsible for the killings.

However, they were released at about 4:00pm.

New Age correspondent in Cumilla reported that the ruling Awami League and its student wing Chhatra League leaders and activists barred Comilla University teachers from joining the human chain to protest against the killing, arrests, and harassment of students.

Teachers were barricaded at various places, including Kotbari, in front of the Cadet College adjacent to the university.

Professor of mathematics Khalifa Mohammad Helal said that some people stopped them at Kotbari.

They said that the university was closed and that even teachers could not go to campus, and asked all to leave the place, alleged Helal.

New Age correspondent at Jahangirnagar University reported that teachers and students of Jahangirnagar University and Daffodil International University in Savar staged ‘Protibadi Gaaner Michil’ on the JU campus, protesting against mass killings, arrests, attacks, cases, and disappearances of quota protesters.

The programme featured a rally, procession, and cultural shows.

New Age correspondent in Noakhali reported that students of Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali Government College, and others organised a protest rally at the Maijdee Old Bus Stand area as part of the countrywide Remembering Our Heroes programme.

Under the banner of the Student Movement Against Discrimination, a platform for quota reform protests, students in Tangail, Bogura, Mymensingh, and other places also organised Remembering Our Heroes programmes.

The Student Movement Against Discrimination, a platform for quota reform protests, on Thursday, announced a ‘mass procession’ programme after the jumma prayers across the country today.

The protesters called on all citizens of Bangladesh, including workers, professionals, cultural activists, journalists, human rights activists, and intellectuals, to join the march.

Abdul Kader, one of the coordinators of the platform, made the announcement through a press release.

The release said that special prayers would be held at mosques, temples, and churches for the victims of the countrywide student movement for quota reform in government jobs.