Bangladesh arrests university teachers after riots-Rest of World-World-The Times of India
Bangladesh arrests university teachers after riots
24 Aug 2007, 1751 hrs IST,AFP
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DHAKA: Bangladesh security forces on Friday arrested four university professors who were allegedly active in protests that erupted into clashes with police and prompted a curfew in six cities, officials said.

The arrests in early morning raids came before the government said it was temporarily suspending the curfew imposed after three days of unrest in the country, which has been under emergency rule since January.

Harun-ur-Rashid, dean of Dhaka University's social science faculty, and Anwar Hossain, dean of bioscience and general secretary of the university's teachers' association, were arrested at their campus homes, acting vice-chancellor Yusuf Haider said.

"At least 10 army officers came to our house in the night and said my father had to go with them to the police station," said Hossain's daughter Dipannita.

The pair have been active in the protests this week, which began after army personnel manhandled students during a football match on the campus of Dhaka University on Monday.

A military-backed interim government took power seven months ago following a political crisis that saw the cancellation of national elections.

Two more teachers were arrested in northwestern Rajshahi early on Friday, said university head Altaf Hossain.

Hossain said intelligence officers told him they suspected teachers at the university of instigating violence there earlier this week that left one bystander dead and dozens injured.

The detained academics were applied physics professors Saidur Rahman Khan, also a former head of the university, and Abdus Sobhan, leader of a left-leaning teachers' group, he added.

Six local political leaders -- from main parties the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Awami League -- were also arrested in western Chuadanga district for "fuelling the student unrest," said local police chief Hasan Bari Noor.

BNP student wing president Azizul Bari Helal was also arrested, a party spokesman said.

Meanwhile, at least 30 journalists were brutally beaten up by security forces, the nation's top media association said, despite government assurances that the press would not face restrictions.

In the capital Dhaka, streets that had earlier been deserted started to return to normal and people flooded into markets to stock up on food and essentials before the curfew was re-imposed later on Friday, witnesses said.

The violent protests sparked by the incident at Dhaka University took place in defiance of a ban on all demonstrations as part of the state of emergency.

Students demanding that the army withdraw from the Dhaka campus clashed with police who retaliated with tear gas.

Non-students joined the protests which quickly escalated into full-scale riots and spread to other cities - even after the government decided to close the campus army post.

Interim government chief Fakhruddin Ahmed said the curfew was imposed to avoid "anarchy" and accused troublemakers of hijacking the protests.

The clampdown was briefly lifted on Thursday - which was declared a holiday in a bid to ease tensions - and the government said it would be suspended for 14 hours on Friday until 10:00 pm (1600 GMT).

Bangladesh's emergency was imposed on January 11 after months of violence over vote-rigging allegations which led to the cancellation of elections scheduled for later that month.

The new government, which took over the following day, has promised new polls by the end of 2008 after it has completed a massive anti-corruption drive to clean up the country's notoriously graft-ridden politics.
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