Medical, dental and general students demanded the cancellation and republication of the recently announced medical admission test results, warning if their demands were not met by Monday they would hold a press briefing at night and escalate their protest programs starting from the next day.
Holding a protest at the Central Shaheed Minar, they called for a reevaluation of results with those who had cleared the test under the freedom fighter quota, calling it a “farce,” and demanded the complete abolition of the quota system.
Medical and dental college students as well as doctors did not support the inclusion of the freedom fighter quota in medical and dental admission exams, said Abdullah Al Noman, a representative of Dhaka Medical College (DMC) students.
The protesters further demanded that the results of the MCQ section of each admission test be published transparently.
Speakers at the rally highlighted the solidarity of students from schools, colleges and universities with their cause.
“If our demands are ignored, we will take to the streets tomorrow with even greater numbers. We will not stop until our rights are secured,” warned Imran Khan Fahim, a medical student.
Zinan, another student from DMC, questioned the purpose of the July uprising, lamenting the surge in the number of students admitted under the freedom fighter quota, "from 108 last year to 269 this year."
“What was the point of our brothers shedding their blood?” he asked.
Meanwhile, a central coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Md Mahin Sarker, expressed concern over what he called “unjust discriminatory quotas” in medical colleges.
“All kinds of unreasonable quotas must be abolished from universities, including Dhaka University and medical colleges,” Mahin said.