Students of Barisal University (BU) on Thursday blocked the Barisal-Kuakata highway under the Bangla Blockade program demanding the abolition of the quota system in government jobs.
Students blocked the highway in front of the main gate of BU at 3:15pm on Thursday.
They demanded the cancellation of all quotas, except for the one allocated for disabled people and minority groups.
The protesting students also burned tyres and chanted anti-quota slogans, which caused severe traffic congestion on both sides of the road.
Sust students block highway ignoring police obstructionSaimum Hossain, a BU student of the Department of Economics, said: "We were warned against blocking the highway by the police, but when a large number of students took part in the program, the police left the area.”
Sujoy Shuvo, leader of protesting students of BU said that the state is discriminating against citizens without providing employment based on merit. “Our only demand is that there will be jobs based on merit and not on quotas.”
Meanwhile, one Kuakata-bound bus passenger Anwar Hossain said: “I am waiting for the program to end. They did not cause any disruption to the movement of emergency vehicles including ambulances carrying patients.”
Officer-in-Charge (OC) of Barisal Metropolitan (Bandar) port police station AR Mukuul said that the students have taken a peaceful stand. The police have not hindered the program in any way.
