VZCZCXRO6768
PP RUEHCI
DE RUEHKA #1557/01 2680838
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250838Z SEP 07
FM AMEMBASSY DHAKA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5163
INFO RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 8100
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 1831
RUEHKT/AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU PRIORITY 9289
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 0181
RUEHCI/AMCONSUL KOLKATA PRIORITY 0925

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DHAKA 001557 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: BG PGOV PINR SOCI
SUBJECT: RAJSHAHI: CRACKS IN THE HAPPIEST CITY ON EARTH 
 
 
¶1. (SBU)  Summary:  When Dhaka University erupted in 
anti-government protests on August 20, the unrest quickly 
spread to Rajshahi University in northwest Bangladesh. 
During a visit to Rajshahi September 11-12, PolOff spoke to 
several credible witnesses who said only a small fraction of 
university students were involved in the rioting that, unlike 
Dhaka, failed to spread to the general population.  Most 
people PolOff interviewed were optimistic that there won't be 
another spasm of violence should school reopen as scheduled 
in late October.  End Summary. 
 
¶2. (SBU)  The 750-acre mildew-streaked Rajshahi University 
campus lies on the outskirts of Bangladesh,s fourth largest 
city.  It has about 25,000 students, making it the second 
largest in the country after Dhaka University, and 1,100 
faculty members.  PolOff spoke with professors, senior 
university administrators, police and journalists about the 
August unrest.  The following account draws on all of these 
interviews but particularly the eyewitness account of Nazib 
Wadood, a journalist who also serves as a medical officer at 
the university clinic. 
 
¶3. (SBU)  Small-scale protests began at Rajshahi University 
on August 21 in solidarity with Dhaka University students who 
a day earlier had scuffled with soldiers billeted on their 
campus.  Protests flared again early on August 22 but 
initially attracted only a few dozen participants, including 
students and teachers affiliated with the Awami League and 
leftist organizations.  They marched to the main campus gate 
and threw bricks at police deployed outside, who countered 
with bricks and tear gas.  Throughout the remainder of the 
day the protesting students, who according to Wadood numbered 
perhaps 300-400 at the peak of the unrest, ransacked a number 
of campus buildings, including the vice chancellor,s 
residence and the medical center, and torched one military 
vehicle.  At times they chanted political slogans calling for 
the end of the Caretaker Government,s restrictions on civil 
liberties and the release of Sheikh Hasina, the imprisoned 
leader of the Awami League and former Prime Minister who is 
in jail on corruption charges.  A small number of outsiders 
joined the rioting, some covering their faces with black 
bandanas.  Police entered campus firing rubber bullets and 
tear gas, and by evening the unrest ebbed with the imposition 
of a curfew and suspension of classes.  One rickshaw driver 
was killed when hit by rubber bullets; the battles also left 
two students with serious injuries and more than a dozen 
policemen hurt. 
 
¶4. (SBU)  The rioting did not rise to the level of violence 
that periodically has rocked Rajshahi University over local 
issues in the past.  A number of factors probably helped 
contain the unrest, including the authorities, decision to 
close the university,s main gate on August 22.  Wadood also 
believes that while local residents are upset about inflation 
-- a main reason why the rioting in Dhaka spread to other 
parts of Bangladesh -- people in Rajshahi &are not so 
aggrieved that they will return to the street.8 
 
¶5. (U)  PolOff found Rajshahi to be calm three weeks after 
the rioting.  It is a sleepy, poor city of 700,000 on the 
banks of the Padma River near the border with India.  Famous 
for its mangos, schools of higher education and silk weaving, 
but devoid of other industries, the pace of city life is 
decidedly less frenetic than Dhaka.  Very few cars and trucks 
ply its main road to compete with ubiquitous rickshaws, many 
of which are decorated with paintings of a female Rambo ) 
well muscled, wrapped in a bandoleer and menacingly wielding 
a nasty hand cannon.  Rajshahi University,s top official, 
Vice Chancellor Altaf Hossain, during a five-minute courtesy 
call chose not to describe his harrowing personal experience 
during the riots but instead proudly noted that a recent 
London School of Economics survey proclaimed Rajshahi the 
happiest city on Earth. 
 
¶6. (SBU) Under that serene veneer, though, is tension.  A 
police roundup of eight faculty members accused of 
participating in the unrest has left colleagues uneasy. 
&Teachers are very unhappy, they are afraid,8 according to 
one chemistry professor.  &We are very sorry our teachers 
are in custody,8 said Pro Vice-Chancellor Mumnunul Keramat, 
who holds the second highest position on campus.  &They 
should be given proper treatment and proper justice.8 
 
¶6. (SBU)   Comment:  The Rajshahi University anti-government 
protests fell far short of those in Dhaka, in part because 
discontent with the Caretaker Government does not appear as 
extreme as in the capital.  Rajshahi officials took a number 
of steps to minimize the unrest: sealing off the university; 
initially keeping the police off campus to cool tempers; and 
 
DHAKA 00001557  002 OF 002 
 
 
not arresting, at least for now, four students accused in the 
riots.  While impossible to gauge student attitudes while 
school is suspended, faculty and administrators were 
optimistic classes will resume in October without a hitch. 
 
PASI 
Pasi