IOSR Journal Of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS) Volume 19, Issue 5, Ver. VI (May. 2014), PP 24-31 e-ISSN: 2279-0837, p-ISSN: 2279-0845. www.iosrjournals.org www.iosrjournals.org 24 | Page Student Demonstration: The Case Study of 2007 Demonstration in Dhaka University, Bangladesh Sajib Bala Assistant Professor, Department of International Relations, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, Bangladesh. Abstract: The conflict between army men and students of Dhaka University held on 20 August 2007 in the playground of the Dhaka University gymnasium over a trivial issue, triggering off student’s unrest. This demonstration later turned into violent leaving hundreds injured. The sudden outbreak of violence led the students to go on a violent rampage and demanding the immediate withdrawal of the army camp from the campus, which had been established in the country after the non-party caretaker government (NCG) assumed power. The NCG apologized to the students for the incident and decided to remove the army camp from the campus with immediate effects were pacifying steps in that direction. However, the cumulative anger amongst the students had spread far beyond the university campus. This led the caretaker government to impose curfew on 22 August 2007. After the imposition of curfew, security forces arrested many teachers and students. In the face of growing public demand and uprising, government released them finally. As political freedom had been under duress due to emergency, state-society relationships, therefore, became strained. Under such circumstances, 20 August student demonstration was the first instance which gave the message to the army that retrieving political freedom must be brought back to solving country’s enormous political and socio-economic problems. With this context in perspective, this research probes the causes and implication of 20 August student demonstration. Keywords: Dhaka University campus, Military, Non-party caretaker government, Political movements, State of emergency, Student demonstration. I. Introduction University campuses in Bangladesh have been breeding grounds for political movements, and students took recourse to violence has not been an unfamiliar occurrence in the past. Being the premier university, the Dhaka University has all along made a significant contribution to the emergence of Bangladesh as a sovereign state. Since the Pakistani rule, the genesis of all political movements (1952, 1966, 1969, and 1990) had been in the campus of the Dhaka University. Even the students of this university were catalysts for declaring independence in 1971. Bangladesh was familiar of being governed by military juntas twice since 1975. And from the very beginning of Pakistan colonial period, the military ruler made Dhaka University their primary target for attack, so did the military backed non-party caretaker government in 2007. A row between army men and students over watching a football match between the Departments of Public Administration and Mass Communication & Journalism at the Dhaka University gymnasium playground on 20 August 2007 sparked primarily a countrywide student demonstration. The demand for the withdrawal of army camp from all university campuses swiftly gained ground. And within hours the agitation had spread to other university campuses, turning it into a virtual battle ground between police forces and protesting students. The situation worsened further when several hundreds more from other colleges joined students‟ procession in a show of solidarity. The sudden escalation of demonstration led to the imposition of curfew and the government closed down universities and colleges in all metropolises, thus forced students to vacate Halls and hostels immediately on 22 August evening. Many teachers and students were arrested by the law enforcement agencies due to this incident. But in the face of growing public resentment, government was forced to release them. Against this backdrop the purpose of the research is to look into the causes of 20 August demonstration took place in the Dhaka University campus. With a view to answering the main question, this study aims to take the following objectives: To determine whether the demonstration was spontaneous or pre-planned. To find out any political interests behind this confrontation. To investigate why it happened under the state of emergency. To examine the pattern of civil-military relationships in Bangladesh. However, this article is divided into seven sections. With introduction in the first section, the second section justifies the research on the topic in the light of literature review. The third section discusses the background of the study with some lights on concepts. In the fourth section, a graphic description of the incident took place on 20 August has been made. The fifth section presents the data of both quantitative and qualitative. The analyses of data along with results and findings have been included in the sixth section. Finally, a conclusion has been drawn in section seven based on the discussion made throughout the paper.