Anti-VAT protesters have taken to the streets across Dhaka, demanding withdrawal of the 7.5% VAT imposed on tuition fees in the private universities.
Boycotting classes, several hundreds of students staged sit-in demonstrations on different city streets from 10am till 4:30pm Sunday.
Following the demonstrations, a huge traffic jam was created across the capital city, triggering untold sufferings to the commuters.
The protesting students of several private universities located in Dhanmondi area blocked Dhanmondi 27 road around 11am. They withdrew the blockade around 6pm.
The students were seen chanting slogans against the imposition of VAT on tuition fees, our reporter Abu Hayat Mahmud reported from the spot.
Our report Syed Samiul Basher Anik reported that the agitated students blocked Housebuilding crossing as well as Abdullahpur crossing and started protesting against VAT around 12pm.
The students were from BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT), Asian University, Shanto-Mariam University of Creative Technology, East West Medical University, Bangladesh Medical University.
Traffic from Uttara, Tongi and Abdullahpur came to a halt due to the blockade.
Our reporter Sadma Malik reported from the spot that agitating students of East West University blocked road in Rampura bridge area around 11am, halting vehicular movement from Rampura to Progoti Sarani and Rampura to Mouchak.
Meanwhile, the students of North South University (NSU) and Independent University Bangladesh (IUB) brought out rallies from their campuses and blocked the road in front of the gate of the Basundhara Residential Area, our reporter Jebunnesa Alo reports.
Vehicular movement from Satmasjid Road, Asadgate crossing to Sukrabad crossing, Science Laboratory crossing came to a halt due to the demonstrations of State University Bangladesh (SUB) and University of Development Alternatives (UDA) students.
Students of Dhaka International University (DIU) and World University blocked the road in Panthapath signal area, halting the traffic from Russell Square to Panthapath signal and Bashundhara City to Panthapath.
Brac University students brought out a rally in the morning and then blocked Mohakhali-Gulshan road around 12:30pm.
On Thursday, Dhaka suffered from severe traffic congestion and gridlock after students from a number of universities took to the streets in several areas of Dhaka protesting against the imposition of 7.5% VAT on the fees at private universities, med schools and engineering colleges.
A day before that, police fired rubber bullets on a group of protesters on the Rampur Bridge who were mostly students of the East West University located in the vicinity.
After that incident, the National Board of Revenue (NBR) announced that the students would not have to pay the VAT, rather the university authorities would pay the indirect tax.
On Friday, the private university authorities requested the government to reconsider the decision.