At least 25 Dhaka University (DU) students have gone on hunger strike demanding the rescheduling of Dhaka city polls which are set to be held on January 30.
Around 2pm on Thursday, students sat for fast unto death at the base of Raju Memorial Sculpture of DU campus, as part of the ongoing protest for the fifth day to defer the Dhaka city elections, as one of the biggest festivals of Hindu community -- the Saraswati Puja -- also falls on the same day.
On Wednesday and Tuesday the protesters under the banner "General students of DU" blockaded Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka to press home their demands.
Spokesperson of the movement, Utpal Biswas, vice president of Jagannath Hall Union said: "We [the students] will continue our strike till our demand is met. Any DU students can join in our protest."
Utpal, also the hall unit Chhatra League general secretary, in a message directed to the Election Commission Senior Secretary Md Alamgir, said: "You can be the secretary and an educated person but you are not conscientious. You have said that we are making a mistake, and waging the movement from lack of awareness."
"We the Dhaka University students cannot make mistakes, rather the authorities concerned made the mistake. The decision they have taken to hold polls in the day of Saraswati Puja is completely unconstitutional, and hurts religious sentiments," he added.
