Hundreds of students from Jahangirnagar University (JU) on Wednesday blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway for second consecutive day to press home their four-point demand including the cancellation of the quota system in government jobs and reinstatement of 2018 circular.
The highway was blocked for two hours in the afternoon.
As previously announced, the blockade started after 3pm and ended at 5pm.
Protest against quota: Students block Shahbagh for 2nd dayDue to the blockade, a long traffic jam was created on both sides of the highway which triggered immense suffering to commuters.
Raihan, a student of English department who participated in the demonstration, said that this decision has been taken against the people of the entire country. This is an undemocratic decision. Students will never accept undemocratic decisions in a democratic country.
Touhid Siam, a student of the international relations department of the university, said: “We held a two-hour blockade program on the Dhaka-Aricha highway for four-point demands. A hearing will be held at the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. We definitely demand the cancellation of this quota system.”
Meanwhile, the Member of Parliament for the Dhaka-19 constituency Saiful Islam, along with hundreds of activists and vehicles, got stuck in the Dhaka-bound lane of the highway due to the student blockade.
Later, after walking a short distance from there, he got into another car and left the place.
When asked in this regard, the lawmaker told the media that he had a political program in Hemayetpur.
“We requested the students to leave our cars, but they refused. So I was forced to leave on foot in an alternative way.”
Meanwhile, students of different universities and colleges of Dhaka blocked Shahbagh intersection for the second day on Wednesday protesting the reinstatement of the quota system in government jobs.
Several thousand students from Dhaka University, Jagannath University, Dhaka College, Eden College, and other colleges joined the demonstration that disrupted the transport movement at Shahbagh and adjacent areas.
On October 4, 2018, the government issued a circular abolishing all the 56% quotas in the public service in the wake of protests by public university students and jobseekers demanding reforms to the quota system introduced in 1972.
On June 5, the High Court ruled that the notification issued on October 4, 2018, canceling the freedom fighter quota in first and second-class government jobs is illegal.
As a result, the 30% freedom fighter quota in government jobs will remain in effect.
The Ministry of Public Administration issued a notification in 2018 canceling the 10% women's quota, 30% freedom fighter quota and 10% district quota for direct recruitment from 9th grade and 10th to 13th grade.
