The government and the ruling Awami League issued a warning on Thursday for students protesting against the quota system in public service on the streets, saying that protestors were crossing limits by holding programmes even after the Supreme Court stayed a High Court order over the reinstatement of the privilege.
The AL general secretary, home minister, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, and AL鈥檚 student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League, issued warnings from separate press conferences that legal action would be taken if they disrupted public order by blocking roads any further.
Addressing a press briefing at the AL president鈥檚 Dhanmondi office, the party general secretary and road transport and bridges minister, Obaidul Quader, on Thursday urged the students demanding reform in the quota system in public service to go back to their classrooms, ending their protests that created public suffering.
The government must take legal action if anyone tries to capitalise on the emotions of innocent students and tries to create anarchy across the country, he said.
Quader alleged that the聽 main opposition, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, wanted to turn the anti-quota movement into anti-government agitations.
But, he said, the Awami League would never allow them to do it.
鈥榃e will face it politically if anyone tries to give the anti-quota movement a political shape,鈥� he said.
He added that women had gone backwards in the absence of the quota system in the past five years.
The ethnic groups also suffered a lot. The quota system plays an important role in building the state system based on diversity and equality, he added.
He said that quotas do not create discrimination; rather, they are needed in some sectors to end discrimination. The highest court has given status quo for four weeks over the quota system, he said.
The AL general secretary said that it was a matter of regret that efforts were going on to disrupt the normal lives of people in the name of the 鈥楤angla Blockade.鈥�
He alleged that even they were not showing respect to the country鈥檚 highest court.
Speaking at a press conference at the secretariat, home minister Asaduzzaman Khan urged the protesting students not to block roads unnecessarily to press home their demand for reform in the quota system in government jobs.
The minister noted that many students had begun taking to the streets, attempting to disrupt public order.
He urged the students to return to their respective campuses, claiming that students were 鈥榗rossing limits.鈥�
Earlier on the day, DMP additional commissioner (Crime and Ops) KH Mahid Uddin said that they would take legal action if quota protesters continued blocking roads.
He said that there was no logic in the movement after the Supreme Court yesterday issued a status quo on the High Court order that reinstated quotas in government jobs.
鈥榃e are duty-bound. The Dhaka Metropolitan Police are not only for them [students]. We have a responsibility for city dwellers,鈥� he said.
He urged the students not to block roads, showing respect for the law and SC.
鈥楾hey were on the roads for the past 10 days, and we considered their issues professionally. But if they do not obey our call, it is an offence as per the law and constitution,鈥� he said, adding that police have sympathy and love for the students.
鈥楤ut we have to be respectful of the High Court ... We are requesting not to hold any programmes that cause public suffering,鈥� he said.
Besides, addressing a press conference at Madhu鈥檚 Canteen on the Dhaka University campus, the Bangladesh Chhatra League has called on students protesting against the quota system in government jobs to wait for the court鈥檚 decision and return to their classrooms and attend exams.
BCL president Saddam Hussain emphasised the necessity of obeying court orders.
鈥楽eeking orders from the executive department alone is not wise. Good decisions take time. Mob justice cannot be commendable,鈥� Saddam said.
Students and jobseekers have been protesting for about 10 days, blocking roads in different parts of the capital, including Shahbagh, Science Lab, and Karwan Bazar, and in different parts of the country, demanding reforms in the quota system for government jobs.