Over 150 students were injured in Bangladesh during clashes on a university campus, highlighting deep tensions between groups that played a key role in last year’s national revolution.

The violence broke out on Tuesday afternoon when the youth wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) attempted to recruit students at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology in the country’s southwest.

This led to a clash with campus members of Students Against Discrimination, a protest group that spearheaded the uprising that removed former autocratic Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina last August.

According to Khulna police officer Kabir Hossain, at least 50 people were taken for medical treatment following the skirmish, he told AFP.

"The situation is now under control, and an extra contingent of police has been deployed," he said.

Jahidur Rahman, a Communications student from the university, told AFP that those hospitalised had suffered injuries from thrown bricks and "sharp weapons," while around 100 others sustained minor injuries.

Videos of the violence, showing rival groups armed with scythes and machetes and injured students being taken to the hospital, were widely circulated on Facebook.

Both sides blamed each other for instigating the violence. BNP student wing chief Nasir Uddin Nasir accused Islamist political party Jamaat members of escalating tensions to provoke a confrontation.

Jahidur Rahman told AFP that the Jamaat activists "created this unwarranted clash."

A local student named Obayed Ullah told AFP that the BNP had disregarded the campus decision to remain free from the activities of established political parties. He also stated that Jamaat had "no presence" on campus.

The incident sparked outrage among students nationwide, leading to a protest rally on Tuesday night at Dhaka University against the BNP's youth wing.

Students Against Discrimination led protests last year that overthrew Bangladesh’s former government and forced ex-leader Hasina into exile after 15 years of rule.

In the final days of Hasina's rule, BNP activists joined student protesters, resisting a violent security crackdown that claimed hundreds of lives.

The BNP is widely anticipated to win the upcoming elections, which will take place by mid-next year under the watch of the country's current caretaker administration.

Meanwhile, student leaders have struggled to turn their role in Hasina’s downfall into a lasting political movement.