Quota protesters leave Shahbagh, to continue boycott of classes, exams until gazette

Protesters demanding a gazette abolishing quotas in government jobs have left Shahbagh after around six hours of demonstration halting traffic at the busy intersection.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 14 May 2018, 02:15 PM
Updated : 14 May 2018, 04:03 PM

Nurul Haque Nur, a leader of the protest organisers, announced the postponement of their demonstration around 7pm on Monday.

He said they stopped the protests after receiving a message from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reassuring them of meeting their demand.

“She said in the message through a special medium that she would implement what she has said.”

Nur said they would continue boycott of classes and exams until the government gazettes the elimination of the quotas.

“There won’t be any programme on the streets,” he added.

After the protests for reforms to the quota system in government jobs reached their peak last month, Hasina on Apr 11 said she would rather see the system abolished than repeated protests causing public sufferings.

The protesters had postponed their demonstrations after Hasina’s announcement, but said they would resume the programmes if the gazette was not published within May 7.

Accordingly, students from Dhaka University under the banner of the Bangladesh Council to Protect General Students’ Rights started to gather at the Shahbagh intersection on Monday morning.

Traffic through the intersection halted due to their gathering around 1pm and huge congestions spread around the area.

Ruling Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader urged the protesters to leave the street, considering the people’s sufferings.

Police also requested the protesters to back off, but the demonstrators did not.

Nur, a joint convenor of the council, announced the postponement when the law enforcers appeared getting ready to act to make the protesters clear the street.

He said they will take to the streets again as there has been “no progress in publishing the gazette 33 days after the prime minister’s announcement”.

“And some people in the government are making controversial comments while some incidents occurred outside Dhaka,” Nur said, without elaborating what the comments or the incidents were.

Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Shafiul Alam said earlier in the day that the decision regarding the prime minister’s announcement of the quota system’s abolition will be announced soon.

But the government is yet to form the promised committee that is to examine and decide on the abolition or reform of the quota system.

Secretary Shafiul said he heard the public administration ministry had sent papers on the committee to the Prime Minister’s Office and a response was expected ‘soon’.