Bangladesh
New Market Clash New Market will be reopened after monitoring the situation: Home Minister
Own Correspondent, Dhaka, April 20: Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said, "So far the situation is favourable. If the situation remains stable, we will reopen the New Market."
The Home Minister made the remarks in response to a question from reporters on Wednesday (April 20).
He said, "I told the traders to wait. Students of seven colleges have announced to block the streets of Dhaka. Nurul Haque Nur and others have also joined them. Eden students have announced to take to the streets along with them."
"So that the situation does not get worse, I told the businessmen to wait and monitor the situation and then open the market and shops," he said.
When asked whether the situation is now favourable for opening the market, the minister said, "So far it is favourable. If the situation remains normal and stable, we will open the market after looking into everything."
Due to the dispute between the employees of the two shops, the traders clashed with the Dhaka College students for about two and a half hours in the New Market area around 12 midnight on Monday (April 18), which lasted till midnight. Police brought the situation under control by removing the two sides from the area at midnight.
After the blockade of Dhaka College students in the second phase on Tuesday morning, clashes started with the traders of New Market. After 10:30 in the morning, intermittent clashes took place in Nilkhet More-Science Lab area. Extreme tension was seen in the surrounding areas including Dhaka College and New Market even after evening.
So far, 11 journalists from different media outlets, more than 200 students of Dhaka College and 25 policemen have been injured in the two-day-long clash. An 18-year-old courier service worker named Nahid, who was seriously injured in the New Market clash, died at the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital (DMCH) on Tuesday night.
