Resolve disputes through dialogue

Teachers shape the conscience of the nation. For that reason they occupy a distinct and respected place in society. Yet in our country teachers are humiliated and insulted at every turn. On the one hand their incomes are extremely limited; on the other, when they take to the streets demanding higher pay, they are beaten and driven away by the state’s police force.

This morning, Sunday (12 October), from 8:00am, teachers and staff of private educational institutions that are MPO-listed began a blockade in front of the National Press Club, demanding three points including the payment of 20 per cent of the basic salary as additional house rent. But reports say that by midday the police disrupted the blockade. Police used batons to remove teachers and staff from the road. They fired sound grenades and used a water cannon. Several protesters are reported to have been injured.

According to media reports, at about 1:30pm a team led by Deputy Commissioner (DC) Masud Alam of the Ramna Division of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) issued an ultimatum for the protesting teachers to clear the road. DC Masud Alam told the teachers, “Go to the Shaheed Minar; you have five minutes. After five minutes we will take legal action. Your leaders have already gone to the Shaheed Minar. So do not block the road here.”

The protesting teachers refused to move. They said they would maintain the blockade at all costs. The teachers declared that they will not leave the road until their demands are met. Earlier, the coalition called the “Alliance for Nationalisation of MPO-Listed Educational Institutions” had demanded that, unless a notification on the 20 per cent increase in the basic salary as house rent is issued, classes at all MPO-listed institutions will be suspended from next Tuesday (14 October).

The question is: why would teachers threaten the government in this way, and why would the police baton-charge them? Could the matter not have been resolved through dialogue and discussion? The road in front of the Press Club is one of Dhaka’s busiest. If it is blocked, half the city grinds to a standstill and commuters suffer severely. Why did the teachers choose to hold the public to ransom in order to press their demands? And why did the police — with the DC and the DMP present — issue a threat that the road must be cleared within five minutes? The teachers could have been persuaded and given more time to move to the Shaheed Minar. The sudden baton-charge and the firing of water cannon escalated the situation. We also fail to understand why, even after being asked, the teachers remained sitting in the road. It appears that both sides, perhaps deliberately, attempted to provoke a clash.

Why are problems in Bangladesh not settled by dialogue and discussion — that is a mystery. If teachers behave like students and the police respond to them with equal force, then there is nothing more to say. We simply plea to the government: do not turn issues that can be resolved through discussion into violent confrontations. We condemn the police baton-charge and the use of water cannon against teacher-staff protesters.