Our lone demand now is that all illogical and discriminatory quotas in public service are scrapped through the passage of a law in parliament, keeping a minimum quota for backward citizens in line with the constitution.
— Hasnat Abdullah, DU student and organiser of the protests
Dhaka was virtually paralysed yesterday as students ramped up their protests against the quota system for government jobs on the sixth day, blocking as many as six busy intersections in the capital.
The demonstrators announced a fresh programme for blocking important intersections in the capital and highways adjacent to colleges and universities across the country from 3:30pm today.
“We have been staging protests with a four-point demand, but now we have only one demand,” said Hasnat Abdullah, a student of Dhaka University and an organiser of the protests that began on July 4.
He said their lone demand now is that all illogical and discriminatory quotas in public service are scrapped through the passage of a law in parliament, keeping a minimum quota for backward citizens in line with the constitution.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina termed the protests irrational and said the issue should be settled at the apex court.
The protests intensified after the Supreme Court on July 4 upheld a High Court verdict that declared a 2018 government circular abolishing the quota system in public service illegal.
The students are demanding the reinstatement of the circular that abolished the 30 percent quota system for children of freedom fighters.
In the wake of massive student protests for reforms, the government in 2018 issued a circular abolishing the quota system.
Until then, about 56 percent of government jobs had been reserved for candidates from various quotas. Of this, 30 percent were for the children and grandchildren of freedom fighters; 10 percent for women; 10 percent for people from underdeveloped districts; 5 percent for members of indigenous communities and 1 percent for persons with physical disabilities.
“With due respect to the prime minister, we want to say that the students have provided the logic for the quota reform movement in 2018,” said DU student Nahid Islam, one of the protest organisers under the banner of “student movement against discrimination”.
The country’s constitution speaks of equality for all and that goes against the quota system, he said.
“There is no point in showing us court — we are fighting in favour of the constitution. The prime minister herself gave the verdict in favour of the quota cancellation in parliament,” he said, adding that the protests will continue indefinitely.
Yesterday, several thousands college and university students gathered in front of the Dhaka University Central Library around 3:00pm in line with their earlier announcement of holding “Bangla Blockade”.
They blocked the Shahbagh intersection at about 3:50pm and lifted the blockade around 8:00pm. Many protesters moved towards the Banglamotor and Sonargaon intersections at 6:00pm. They left Sonargaon intersection at about 6:50pm and Banglamotor around 7:00pm and returned to Shahbagh.
A section of DU students first blocked the Chankharpul intersection near Mayor Hanif Flyover around 3:30pm. The blocked the on and off ramp of the flyover for about four hours.
Another group of protestors also blocked the Science Lab intersection.
Meanwhile, students of Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University blocked a street near their university in the capital’s Agargaon around 3:45pm, said Ahad Ali, officer-in-charge of Sher-e-Bangla Police Station.
Student also blocked the Dhaka-Chattogram, Dhaka-Aricha, Chattogram-Khagrachhari, Barishal-Kuakata and Dinajpur-Dhaka highways.
Hundreds of students of Jahangirnagar University blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway near the campus for around two hours from 11:00am.
The protest caused a six-kilometre tailback on the highway, said AFM Sayeed, the officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station.
Many passengers were stuck for hours in a six-kilometre-long tailback in Kotbari crossing area of the Dhaka-Chattogram highway as the protestors from Cumilla University kept the highway blocked for four hours from 4:00pm.
Thousands of students of the University of Chittagong blocked the Chattogram-Khagrachhari highway for about two hours from around 4:00pm.
“If the talented people are not evaluated properly, then there will be a brain drain,” said Mubarak Hossain, a student at the University of Chittagong’s department of economics.
Hundreds of students from Barishal University kept the Barishal-Kuakata highway blocked for more than three-and-a-half hours from 11:30am, creating tailbacks on both sides of the highway.
Local and long-distance buses could not depart Nathullabad due to the protest, said Arichul Haque, the officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station.
Students from Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU) in Dinajpur blocked the Dinajpur-Dhaka highway for an hour from 11:00am, leaving hundreds of vehicles stuck.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhury yesterday said it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the protest against the quota system as it is a sub-judice matter.
“Commenting on the matter will be tantamount to contempt of court. Any citizen of Bangladesh can comment on the street. But it is not possible to comment from a responsible place in government,” he said.
The government is closely monitoring the ongoing movements of the university teachers and the students against a new pension scheme and quota in government jobs, said Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, while talking to reporters at the secretariat.
Source: Ittefaq
