Three school students were arrested due to Awami League procession in the western part of Noakhali Sadar Upazila. After the march yesterday, serious allegations were made against the joint force’s operation and district Chhatra Dal president of beating the students and handing them over to the police.
The three minor students arrested are Ariful Islam Shakib, a class 9 student, Md. Ripon of the same class and Saiful Islam Hasan, a class 10 student.
According to local and victim family sources, a procession was taken out by Awami League in the western part of Sadar Upazila yesterday. Allegations have been made that school-going children of Awami League families are being selectively targeted out of political revenge based on the source of that procession. Strongly condemning the incident, it has been said from a local side that the arrest was made due to yesterday’s Awami League procession. The District Chhatra Dal president himself went and handed over these school children to the police, which is very unprecedented.Local conscious citizens and parents are claiming that arresting and harassing young students in the field of politics cannot be accepted in any way.
There is intense tension and anger among the common people in the western part of Sadar Upazila of Noakhali based on this incident. Such attacks and arrests on school students have been strongly criticized as purely politically motivated.
Reacting to the emerging situation in the local political circles including social media, it is said that the brutal political violence that started today, the administration and those concerned should remember that it will return several times more in the future.
In order to normalize the situation in the area and ensure the safety of the general students, an immediate stop to such harassing arrests and the release of the students have been demanded.
