BM Desk : On Sunday, tensions erupted in front of the National Press Club as police used sound grenades to scatter the 17th group of registered teachers who were marching in the direction of the Secretariat.

Law enforcement acted quickly to restore order after the escalation broke up the previously calm demonstration and caused alarm in the region. The incident happened at the Secretariat’s Gate No. 5, which is next to the National Press Club.
The police requested that the protesters leave the area, but they refused. Law enforcement officers then dispersed the throng using six sound bombs. The teachers had watched a presentation called “Long march to Secretariat” earlier in the morning. They started heading in the direction of the Secretariat at 1:30 p.m.

Their key demands include: issuing a special circular in accordance with the Appellate Division’s verdict to allow candidates of the 17th batch to apply at least once, suspending the process of the sixth public recruitment circular until the issue of the 17th batch is resolved and making a final decision promptly in line with the recommendations of the Ministry of Law and the NTRCA.

“As far as we know, five to six people have been injured,” Masud Alam, the Deputy Commissioner of the Ramna Division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), told reporters. The demonstrators were dispersed with sound grenades. In the morning, the protest started in front of the Press Club, and at 1:30 pm, they abruptly proceeded in the direction of the Secretariat. They were applicants who passed the 17th Non-Government Teachers’ Registration Examination, I learned.

A police blockade was already in place when the protesters later relocated to the Link Road. In reference to this, the police official stated: “Police first tried to stop them and asked them to leave when they tried to breach the barricade. However, they grew more and more rowdy.