Milestone tragedy: Parents demand CCTV footage, banning coaching business
Grieving parents of students killed and injured in the Milestone School and College fighter jet crash staged a human chain at the Diyabari roundabout in Uttara on Tuesday, demanding justice, transparency, and an end to commercial coaching within educational institutions.
The protest, held around 10:00am, was attended by family members of the victims, who presented nine key demands following the tragic incident on August 7, when an Air Force jet crashed into the school premises during a training exercise.
The parents’ demands include:
A fair, independent investigation and trial into the crash.
An immediate ban on all coaching operations within educational institutions across Bangladesh, including Milestone School.
Compensation of Tk 5 crore from the government for each child killed and Tk 1 crore for each injured student.
A fine of Tk 2 crore from the school for each child killed and Tk 1 crore for each injured student.
The relocation of the school or the relocation of the flight runway, to prevent future tragedies.
The removal within 72 hours of Khadija AKter, the branch head and alleged main promoter of the coaching business, followed by a fair trial.
Full access to the school’s CCTV footage from the day of the crash.
Relocation of Air Force training exercises to uninhabited areas.
The removal of a teacher who allegedly assaulted a parent during the protest.
Umme Tamima Akhter, mother of Mariam Umme Afia, a class III student who died in the crash, shared a heart-breaking account of her daughter’s final days.
“I would never have sent my child to coaching,” she said. “But I did, for just a month and a half, because she came home and said, ‘Ma, if I don’t take coaching, the teachers won’t love me.’ Every day, they told her: ‘If you don’t coach, you won’t be adored.’”
Afia, a student in the Bengali medium section, had been thrilled after joining coaching. “After a week, she wrapped her arms around me and said, ‘Mother, the teachers adore me so much now.’”
Tamima added: “The children who died were all involved in coaching. A huge portion of the profits go to the school. There’s immense pressure to join. Parents don’t want this. They’re forcing children to underperform in class just to push them into coaching.”
Mohammad Abu Shahin, father of Borhan Uddin Bappi, another third-grade victim, said teachers repeatedly told him his son was “not studying well” and pressured him to enrol in coaching.
“They tortured him in different ways to force him into coaching,” Shahin said. He added that his other son, Belal Uddin, is now being pressured to join the same coaching programme.
A guardian, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified Khadija Akter, the branch head, as the main driving force behind the coaching business.
She claimed that Maherin Chowdhury, a teacher who also died in the crash, had repeatedly opposed the coaching activities, leading to conflict with Khadija. “She didn’t listen. Now we demand her removal within 72 hours,” the parent said.
Parents expressed deep frustration over the school’s silence. “We came in peace to form a human chain,” said one. “Not a single teacher or official came to talk to us. We are childless now—and no one has reached out.”
They also alleged that a teacher physically confronted a parent during the protest, raising his hand in aggression. This incident prompted the addition of a ninth demand, the teacher’s removal.
Protesters held placards with photos of the slain children and chanted slogans such as: “Stop coaching business – education, not profit!”, “Why did all these flowers burn? Give us answers!”, “The plane came and emptied a mother’s heart.”
The human chain later moved toward the Milestone School campus, a painful reminder of the tragedy that has shaken the nation.