Dhaka, Nov 27 (LatestNewsX) — In Khulna district, a number of participants from the Democratic Students’ Alliance, a left‑leaning group in Bangladesh, were injured while staging a human‑chain protest. They were marching to draw attention to the nationwide assault on shrines and Sufi sites and to demand the release of Baul singer Abul Sarkar.
The clash happened on Wednesday night at the Shibbari intersection in Khulna city. At that same spot a separate group operating under the name “Students‑People”, claiming the protest was an “insult to religion”, launched a counter‑demonstration.
According to eyewitness accounts cited by Bengali daily Prothom Alo, leaders and associates of the Democratic Students’ Alliance were struck with blows, punches and sticks as they moved through the streets bearing banners. Those banners were later seized, set alight and taken away.
The incident was confirmed by Kabir Hossain, the officer‑in‑charge of Sonadanga Model Police Station of the Khulna Metropolitan Police. He stated that the leftist students were attacked by “students and the general public”.
The Alliance said the demonstration was part of a nationwide campaign to condemn vandalism of religious sites, the targeting of Baul artists, and sectarian violence.
Sajeeb Khan, the district committee’s general secretary for the student union, recalled, “We set up our position in Shibbari around 3 pm. Though police were present, an orchestrated attack began at about 5 pm.” He added that the other faction calling itself “students and the people” was in fact linked to United People’s Bangladesh (UPB) and Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Islamist party Jamaat‑e‑Islam.
In Dhaka University, left‑aligned students organized a torch procession that same Wednesday night to protest both the Khulna attack on their program and recent assaults on Baul devotees nationwide.
During the march, demonstrators shouted slogans such as “No place for extremism in Lalon Sai’s Bengal,” “Abul Sarkar is my brother, we demand his release now,” “Who attacked in Thakurgaon? Communal terrorists,” “Why was Abul Sarkar arrested? We want answers,” and “Wah Yunus is wonderful, guardian of terrorists.”
Meghmallar Basu, president of the Dhaka University unit of Chhatra Union, blamed Chhatra Shibir, UPB and the National Citizen Party for the Khulna incident, saying, “We have reached a point where even democratic forces cannot express themselves freely,” as reported by The Business Standard, Bangladesh’s leading newspaper.
Bangladesh has seen a sharp rise in violence against minorities, cultural institutions and many religious sites during the Muhammad Yunus‑led interim government, sparking anger among the public and drawing criticism from human‑rights organisations worldwide.
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