After nearly six hours of protest, students from the seven colleges in Dhaka have left the Science Laboratory intersection.
Traffic has started to return to normal following their departure.
The prolonged blockade of this key intersection had significant effects on other roads and alleyways, causing severe traffic jams that left many commuters struggling throughout the day.
Unable to stay in vehicles for long, many people opted to walk to their destinations.
For the past several days, students from the seven colleges affiliated with Dhaka University have been protesting by blocking roads, demanding university status.
On Wednesday, they occupied the Science Laboratory intersection from around 11:30am to 5:15pm. They held a similar protest at the same location on Tuesday.
In light of the situation, Education Advisor Professor Wahiduddin Mahmud issued a statement urging students to return to their respective educational institutions without causing public inconvenience.
At a press conference held at 5pm, the protesting students announced the conclusion of their program.
During the press briefing, student spokesperson Abdur Rahman addressed the statement from the education adviser.
He noted that the statement did not mention the formation of a university transformation commission or the inclusion of student representatives in the commission, which has disappointed the students. Therefore, they will continue their movement demanding the immediate formation of a university transformation commission with the inclusion of educators and student representatives. If their demands are not met, the students may resort to a hunger strike. They plan to announce their next course of action in a press conference on Saturday afternoon.
Additionally, the protesters announced that starting on Thursday; they will hold online discussions based on departmental divisions in each college, along with online campaigns until Saturday.
