On March 16, 1948, a student meeting was held at the Dhaka University Campus demanding Bengali to be the National Language. After the meeting, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman led a rally towards the Assembly Hall. The rally passed Engineering College, Dhaka Medical College and reached the four corners near Assembly Hall. The students surrounded the Hall and laid a siege. The members of the assembly, the speaker, deputy speaker, and the MPs were all encircled. Shawkat Ali, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and others engaged in a heated exchange of words with the MPs and the District Magistrate. Suddenly, the students came under attack by the police. The policemen started using batons, tear gas shells and fired blanks. Nineteen activists were injured that day and Shawkat Ali was the most seriously hurt.