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Attack on indigenous students: Case presented against 300 strangers

Attack on indigenous students: Case presented against 300 strangers

Yesterday, two individuals, identified as Arif Al Khabir and Md Abbas, who were arrested for their involvement in the attack, have also been named as accused in the case.

TBS report

January 17, 2025, 9:40 p.m.

Last modified: January 17, 2025, 22:28

Police baton-charged and sprayed water on demonstrators who gathered to protest the attack on ethnic minority students at the NCTB premises on 16 January. Photo: TBS.

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Police baton-charged and sprayed water on demonstrators who gathered to protest the attack on ethnic minority students at the NCTB premises on 16 January. Photo: TBS.

Police baton-charged and sprayed water on demonstrators who gathered to protest the attack on ethnic minority students at the NCTB premises on 16 January. Photo: TBS.

A case has been registered against 300 unknown individuals in connection with an attack on indigenous students outside the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB) in Motijheel on January 15.

Yesterday, two people, identified as Arif Al Khabir and Md Abbas, who were arrested for their involvement in the attack, have also been named as accused in the case, the officer in charge (OC) of the police station told The Business Standard. Motijheel police, Mejbah Uddin. .

Jagdish Chakma, president of the Indigenous Students Association (Dhaka Metropolitan), lodged the case today (January 17) at the police station, the CO said.


“We are working to arrest those involved,” he added.

Attack in front of the NCTB building

At least nine people were injured on Wednesday (January 15) in violence during simultaneous protest programs by two groups: one supporting and the other opposing the removal of an image of graffiti with the word “Adivasi” in a textbook in front of the NCTB building. in Dhaka.

The two groups are the Aggrieved Indigenous Students and the Students for Sovereignty. The latter has been widely accused of launching the attack on the former, and two of its members were arrested the following day by police for their involvement in the attacks.

Police said the detainees, Arif Al Khabir and Md Abbas, also used bandages and viodin, an ointment, to fake head injuries.

In a statement, the interim government condemned the attack and launched an investigation into the incident.


“The Caretaker Government strongly condemns the attack on the peaceful gathering of a group of ethnic minority students outside the NTCB, Motijheel on Wednesday, January 15. The government has ordered an investigation into the attack and two people have already been arrested in “Other perpetrators are being identified and will soon be arrested. “All wrongdoers will be brought to justice,” he said in a statement posted on the Facebook account of Shaifqul Alam, press secretary to senior advisor Mohammad Yunus.

“The government warns that anyone involved in activities that harm harmony, peace and law and order will face stern action without discrimination,” the statement also said.

Several advisers to the interim government, including Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul, also condemned the attacks and vowed to bring those responsible to justice.

Additionally, the National Citizens Committee criticized Students for Sovereignty for their “clear role” in the violence.


In a statement sent to the media on January 15, the platform stated that “Students for Sovereignty has not acted responsibly in today’s violence by announcing a protest program in the same place where a demonstration had already been previously announced. under the motto of Aggrieved”. Indigenous Students”.

The Citizens’ Committee alleged that Students for Sovereignty’s decision “created deliberate tension.”

The attack also drew criticism from various political parties, civil society organizations and netizens on social media platforms.