Job seekers on Saturday noon blocked the Shahbagh intersection in the capital, demanding that the age limit for entry into government jobs be raised to 35 years from existing 30 years.
They blocked the Shahbagh intersection at around 1:00pm to press home their demand.
Although the police repeatedly requested them not to block the road, they did not pay heed to the police.
As a result, traffic in the Shahbagh area came to a complete halt, causing severe congestion in the surrounding area.
The job seekers warned that they would not leave Shahbagh unless their demands were met, stating that they would not clear the road unless a government representative came to talk with them.
The demonstrators remained on the road occupying the Shahbagh intersection till filing this report at 7:30pm.
Shahbagh police officer-in-charge Shahabuddin Shakil told 抖阴精品 that the higher authorities of the government might sit for a discussion with them.
At the rally, the protesters chanted slogans including 鈥楳erit, not age limit鈥�, 鈥楴o more delays, issue the notification now鈥�, 鈥楤reak the chains of 35鈥� and others.
Expressing solidarity with the protesters, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, the convener of the Nagorik Oikya, said at the rally, 鈥楾here are countless temporary appointments, and these people may be dismissed at any moment without proper reasons.鈥�
He also said that the movement people carried out was not a movement to overthrow the government.
鈥榃e have stated that it is a movement to change the country, a movement to end misgovernance,鈥� said Manna.
Ziaur Rahman, a former student of Dhaka College who joined the movement in support of the demand for raising the age limit to 35, said, 鈥榃e have appealed to our chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus to meet our demand. We have also submitted a memorandum in this regard.鈥�
鈥業f we do not get any response, we will announce our next course of action based on the opinions of our grassroots comrades,鈥� he said.
The protesting job seekers said that in nearly 162 countries around the world, the minimum age limit for applying for jobs was at least 35 years, with some countries having no age limit at all.鈥�
In the country, however, it is only 30 years, the job seeking protesters said, adding that in a new Bangladesh, they cannot accept this disparity.
The protesters further stated that in 1991, the age limit for government jobs was raised from 27 to 30 years.
As the life expectancy of people in Bangladesh has increased, it is, therefore, reasonable to raise the age limit for applying for jobs, the protesters said.
Earlier at around 11:00am on the day, the General Students鈥� Coordination Council, a platform demanding the age limit increase, held a rally in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh.
Later at about 8:45pm, the protesters left the Shahbagh intersection area.