The protesting students have again announced the continuation of the nationwide “Bangla Blockade” program.
The blockade program will be started at 3:30pm on Thursday demanding restoration of the circular issued in 2018 cancelling the quota system in government services.
Dhaka University’s student Asif Mahmud, coordinator of the protest, announced the program at Shahbagh in the capital from Wednesday’s program.
Announcing the program, Asif Mahmud said that the program will continue on Thursday at every corner of the country. The blockade would be observed at strategic points of the country.
The students will observe the blockade program on roads and railways across the country from 3:30pm.
The Dhaka University students will gather in front of the Central Library and bring out a procession from there. Later, they will block the Shahbag intersection.
The blockade, titled “Bangla Blockade” began on Sunday.
After observing the blockade program on the first two days, an interval was given on Tuesday.
The students continued the “Bangla Blockade” for the third day on Wednesday demanding the reformation of the quota system. The protestors observed the blockade from 10am.
Earlier, at 5:20pm, students began lifting blockades from highways and headed to Shahbagh intersection to join the main rally.
Sarjis Alam, a coordinator of the anti-quota protests, said: “Our demand is directed to the government, not to the High Court. We don’t want to follow or suffer the lengthy process of the High Court. If the government or executive department assures us directly, we will leave the road. We are not supposed to stay on the roads. It is not our place. We want to get back to the studies soon without wasting our valuable time.”
Earlier, they observed the blockade from 3pm on Sunday and 3:30pm to 9pm on Monday.
The unrest follows a recent ruling by the Appellate Division, which issued a one-month stay on the High Court’s verdict invalidating the decision to cancel the freedom fighter quota system in the first and second class of government jobs.
Despite this stay, the quota opponents have rejected the order and vowed to continue their agitation.