Police baton-charge primary teacher recruitment aspirants during protest in Mirpur

Police baton-charged aspirants for government primary school assistant teacher posts during a sit-in programme in the capital’s Mirpur, leaving several protesters injured.

The incident took place around 3:30pm today (27 April) in front of the Directorate of Primary Education in Mirpur-2, where recruitment seekers had been staging a demonstration since 12pm, blocking the road and demanding appointment and posting.

Speaking to The Business Standard, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner of Police (Mirpur division) Mostak Sarker said the state minister for primary and mass education had assured the aspirants of fulfilling their demands the previous day, and the assurance was also published on the ministry’s website.

However, the protesters again blocked the road on Monday, causing severe traffic congestion, he said.

“A delegation of the protesters spoke with the director general of the directorate regarding their demands. They gave 10 days to fulfil the demands. But other protesters were not leaving the road. Even after being asked to move, they did not comply. So they were dispersed,” he added.

Sources said protesters had been blocking the road since noon. In the afternoon, senior police officials gave them 10 minutes to vacate the road. When they failed to do so within the stipulated time, the police baton-charged them and dispersed the crowd.

According to the protesters, candidates were recommended under the Primary Assistant Teacher Recruitment 2025, and a total of 14,384 candidates were selected through the final results published on 8 February.

As appointment letters have not been issued even after more than two months, they staged a protest at Shahbagh intersection yesterday, followed by today’s sit-in in front of the Directorate of Primary Education.