Teachers from Ebtedayee madrasas—primary-level seminaries under the madrasa board—have resumed their sit-in protest at Shahbagh on Monday (27 January), undeterred by police action the previous day that saw baton charges and water cannons used to disperse them.
Determined to press home their six-point demands, including the nationalisation of all registered institutions, the protesting teachers spent the night on the streets under the open sky.
On the previous day, police intercepted the demonstrators as they marched towards the Chief Adviser’s Office to submit a memorandum outlining their demands, leaving several teachers injured in the scuffle.
In response to the crackdown, members of the "Swatantra Ebtedayee Madrasa Shikkhak Oikyojote" (Independent Ebtedayee Madrasa Teachers’ Unity) immediately staged a sit-in in front of the Fine Arts Faculty of Dhaka University.
Several hundred teachers have gathered at Shahbagh, vowing to persist.
A four-member delegation is currently engaged in discussions with officials of Ramna Division Police, while a meeting with senior officials from the education ministry is also anticipated.
The teachers have long been demonstrating for their demands, having staged protests over the years.
Most recently, they had been holding a sit-in in front of Jatiya Press Club for several days, calling for the nationalisation of Ebtedayee madrasas in the same manner as government primary schools.
