Commuters from different walks of life suffered immensely on Sunday as the students of seven Dhaka University-affiliated colleges blocked the capital’s Nilkhet intersection demanding the relaxation of CGPA requirements and the permission to take final examinations for the next year.
They started to gather at Nilkhet – one of the major strategic points of the city – around 12 noon and blocked the intersection within 30 minutes, badly halting traffic in and around the area.
However, they withdrew the blockade around 6:30pm and called off their protests upon assurance from the authorities concerned of meeting their demands.
But Sunday saw the third such blockade since mid-August, with the previous one on August 22.
Students, job holders, children and patients were the worst victims on all three occasions as the agitated students occupied the intersection for several hours.
Many passengers alighted off buses and started walking to their destination. Traffic on the Mirpur Road came to a halt because of the blockade.
New Market police station Officer-in-Charge Shafiqul Gani said: “I believe the teachers of the colleges concerned will stop their students from blocking roads again.”
The issue has been reported to the higher authorities, he added.
The undergraduate students of the academic years -- 2017-2018, 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2021-2022 -- had been protesting for over a month, demanding graduation to the next year by relaxing the conditions of the CGPA policy of Dhaka University.
In the process, they also wanted permission to sit for grade improvement tests in up to three subjects.
Until Sunday evening, the Dhaka University administration stuck to its position on the CGPA conditions.
