Students of the University of Dhaka and Jahangirnagar university on Tuesday blocked the Shahbagh intersection and Dhaka-Aricha highway as protests demanding cancellation of the High Court order for the restoration of 30 per cent quota for freedom fighters鈥� children and grandchildren in government jobs intensified.
Students of other public universities, including Rajshahi University and Chittagong University also held聽 rallies and human chains to press home the same demand on the day.
Students of Dhaka University brought out a procession at about 2:40pm from in front of its Central Public Library.
The procession ended at Shahbagh intersection after parading Nilkhet, Science Laboratory and Elephant roads.
The students then blocked the intersection, the busiest area of the聽 capital, for more than half an hour, 抖阴精品 correspondent in Dhaka University reported.
People from all walks of life suffered immensely as vehicular movement in the area halted as protestors did not allow any vehicles except ambulance carrying patients before clearing the road at about 4:45pm.
The protesting students raised four-point demand that included cancelling the High Court order that restored the quota system, upholding the 2018 government circular, ensuring merit-based recruitment in the public service, giving appointment to qualified candidates from the merit list if any eligible candidates are not found in quotas for marginalised communities.
Nahid Islam, coordinator of the Students Movement against Discrimination, an anti-quota movement platform, announced that they would take position in front of the DU鈥檚 Central Public Library at 2:30pm today.聽
鈥榃e urge students of all colleges and universities across the country to observe the programme under the banner at the same time,鈥� he said.
Students of Dhaka College also joined the Dhaka University students鈥� blockade at the Shahbagh intersection.
Following the blockade, the protesters went to the DU vice-chancellor鈥檚 bungalow and stayed for a while and ended the day鈥檚 programme.
Hundreds of students of Jahangirnagar University, meanwhile, blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway for about half an hour for the second consecutive day on Tuesday, 抖阴精品 JU Correspondent reported.
Long tailbacks were created on both lanes of the busy highway following the blockade from 3:45pm to 4:15pm on the day.
The protesters gathered in front of JU central library at about 3:30am on the day and brought out a protest procession on the campus.
鈥楾he quota system in government jobs will intensify the existing unemployment problem in the country as the system will benefit a certain group of people. This discriminatory system goes against the spirits of the War of Independence,鈥� Alif Mahmud, a protesting student said.
The protesters warned that they would block the country鈥檚 one of the busiest highways鈥擠haka-Aricha highway鈥� from 3:00pm to 5:00pm on Wednesday if their demands were not met.
Braving rain, students of Rajshahi University on Tuesday staged a demonstration for the third consecutive day demanding cancellation of the High Court order for the restoration of 30 per cent quota for freedom fighters鈥� children and grandchildren in government jobs, and quick reform of the existing quota system.
About a hundred of them under the banner of RU general students formed a human chain at the university鈥檚 鈥楶aris Road鈥� on the campus to press home their demand.
Addressing the human chain, population science and human resource development student Mehedi Hasan Maruf said that during their protests in 2018, they demanded the government should reform the existing quota system.
Students of Chittagong University held a protest for the second day to press the same demand.
They brought out a procession from in front of the Chittagong University Central Students鈥� Union building on Tuesday which after parading several roads on the university campus ended at Central Shaheed Minar.
Protesters said that the quota system had gone against the interest of meritorious students and an unfair one as well.
On June 5, the HC asked the government to restore the 30 per cent quota for children and grandchildren of the freedom fighters in government jobs.
On October 4, 2018, the government issued a circular abolishing all the 56 per cent quotas in the public service in the wake of street protests by the public university students and jobseekers demanding reforms to the quota system introduced in 1972.
Until the abolition, about 56 per cent of government jobs were reserved for candidates from various quotas. Of them, 30 per cent were for freedom fighters鈥� children and grandchildren, 10 per cent for women, 10 per cent for people of underdeveloped districts, 5 per cent for ethnic communities and 1 per cent for physically challenged people.
