Parents of students killed in the recent Bangladesh Air Force fighter jet crash at Milestone School in Uttara were unable to submit a memorandum to the school authorities on Sunday.
Witnesses said the parents had gathered in front of the school gate around 12:15 pm, joined by members of the media.
They attempted to enter the premises around 12:30 pm to hand over their memorandum, but were initially blocked by security personnel.
When the parents requested access for both themselves and journalists, no immediate response came from the authorities.
Eventually, they entered the school compound with journalists and were taken to a conference room inside the academic building.
There, administrative officer Masud Alam and later public relations officer Shah Bulbul tried to negotiate.
The parents insisted that the principal receive their memorandum directly in front of the media and answer some of their questions.
The officials proposed that four to five parents meet the principal privately in his office instead, but the parents rejected this offer.
After back-and-forth discussions, no agreement was reached, and the parents left without submitting the memorandum.
The parents explained that on 12 August they had staged a human chain with a nine-point demand, giving the school 72 hours to respond.
They alleged that the authorities not only ignored their demands but also engaged in defamation campaigns on social media, spread by teachers and officials.
Ashraful Islam, who lost both his children—Tahia Ashraf Nazia and Arian Ashraf Nafi—in the incident, alleged that his daughter was pressured by the school to attend coaching classes.
On the day of the crash, he said, she was detained for coaching despite not being a coaching student, which prompted her brother to go inside to fetch her. Both were killed as a result.
Another guardian, Leon Mir, uncle of victim Fatema Akter, said their demands included the removal of two teachers, one of whom allegedly physically assaulted a parent during the human chain.
He accused the school of spreading falsehoods in the media, claiming demands were met while simultaneously ridiculing the grieving families online. According to him, some school officials even described the parents as “greedy” in Facebook comments.
Leon Mir added that the school was misrepresenting the issue of coaching, claiming that parents themselves had applied for it. In reality, he said, teachers circulated pre-written forms to students and forced parents to sign.
When asked about their next steps, he said the guardians would meet soon to decide on further actions and announce their decisions through a press conference.
