Fourteen individuals, including seven male and seven female teachers, were arrested from a demonstration programme staged by the teachers at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka on Thursday.
The teachers, who had been recommended for Assistant Teacher in government primary schools, have been staging demonstration for the eight consecutive days demanding to reinstatement of their cancelled appointments.
Demanding appointment of 6,531 assistant teachers in government primary schools, several hundred protesters started sit-in to the street around 10:00 AM and chanted slogans in favour of their demands.
They staged the sit-in programme blocking the road in Shahbagh causing huge traffic jam on both sides of the roads.
Vehicular movement on the busy road remained disrupted causing immense suffering to the commuters.
Police later dispersed protesters from Shahbagh intersection by charging batons and using water cannons around 2:30 PM.
Confirming the arrest, Ramna Zone Deputy Commissioner (DC) Masud Alam said that police arrested 14 teachers in this connection for questioning.
The demonstration was prompted due to cancellation of the appointments for 6,531 teachers from Dhaka and Chittagong divisions, whose recruitment was annulled by the High Court.
The teachers have been protesting ever since the February 6 ruling, which followed the court’s decision to cancel the appointment letters issued to them. The court’s decision also stemmed from concerns over the application of the quota system in the recruitment process.
