Demonstration in quota reform movement, students blockade Shahbagh

  • DU Correspondent, Barta24.com
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photo: Barta24

photo: Barta24

Thousands of Dhaka University (DU) students blocked Shahbagh with a protest march as part of the ongoing movement demanding the abolition of quota system in government jobs and reinstatement of the circular issued by the government in 2018.

On Saturday (July 6) around 4:30 pm, students blocked Shahbagh intersection. Due to the location of the students, the road leading to Science Lab, Mirpur Road, Motijheel was closed. This caused intense commotion in the Shahbag Mor area. As the traffic was stopped, many of the passengers walked towards their destination.

বিজ্ঞাপন

Earlier, around 3 pm, students organized a procession in front of the Central Library of DU from various halls and departments of the university under the banner of 'anti-discrimination student movement'. The protest march started from the Central Library of Dhaka University and passed through Muhsin Hall, VC Chatwar, TSC, Jagannath Hall, Bakshibazar, Palashi to Azimpur and again from Neelkhet to Raju Bhaskar and ended at Shahbagh.

At this time, the students chanted, 'The principle of the constitution/liberation war, equality of opportunity', 'Give news to the whole of Bengal, bury the quota system', 'The tool of eighteen, roar again', 'Wake up, wake up, student society has woken up', There is a fire', 'quota system, cancel want cancel want' etc.

বিজ্ঞাপন

Earlier, Nahid Islam, one of the organizers of the protesting students on July 4, announced a 3-day program and said that public relations will be online and offline next Friday. A procession will be held from universities and colleges of the country at 3 pm on Saturday. Class-examination boycott and student strike will be observed in all colleges and universities next Sunday. Sunday's field program will be announced after today's protest march.

It is known that before the holy Eid-ul-Azha on June 5, the High Court declared invalid the circular for the cancellation of freedom fighter quota in the case of direct recruitment (grades 9 to 13) in government offices, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions and various corporations. From that day, a large number of students started protesting in Dhaka University. In this situation, the state applied to the Appellate Division seeking suspension of the court's decision. A full bench of the Appellate Division fixed July 4 for hearing the petition.

Nahid Islam, a student of Sociology Department of Dhaka University, one of the organizers of the recent quota reform movement, said that their demand is mainly to redistribute or reform the quota by setting up a commission with a maximum quota of 10 percent in all grades subject to the upholding of the 2018 circular; Stopping the possibility of using quota facility multiple times in the job examination and appointing the vacant posts on the basis of merit if qualified candidates are not found in the quota and taking effective measures to ensure a corruption-free, impartial and merit-based bureaucracy.

Till 2018, there was a total of 56 percent quota in government jobs in Bangladesh. That year, protests started in various educational institutions of the country, including Dhaka University demanding quota reform. At that time, the protesting students complained of attack by law enforcement agencies including Chhatra League.

On October 4 of that year, the Ministry of Public Administration issued a circular on the cancellation of quota. Later in 2021, the children of freedom fighters filed a writ challenging the part of the freedom fighter quota cancellation of that circular.