BUP students agree to halt protests for a week after talks with mayor

The students of the Bangladesh University of Professionals, or BUP, have agreed to pause protests for a week after Dhaka North Mayor Atiqul Islam promised to meet their demands for road safety.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 20 March 2019, 12:49 PM
Updated : 20 March 2019, 06:07 PM

The decision came after a meeting at the mayor’s office on Wednesday evening following two days of protests.

The demonstrations were sparked by the death of BUP student Abrar Ahmed Chowdhury in a road accident near Jamuna Future Park at the entrance of Bashundhara Residential Area in Dhaka on Tuesday.

School-goers marched to join the students of Bangladesh University of Professionals, who were demonstrating at Nodda four the second day on Wednesday against the death of their peer Abrar Ahmed Chowdhury. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

After the meeting, Faisal Enayet, a student representative, said another round of talks will be held at the mayor’s office at 11am on Mar 28.

“We will resume protests if we are not pleased with the progress regarding the meeting of our demands. Students all over the country will join the protests. We will boycott classes and exams indefinitely,” he warned.

The student representatives then went to Bashundhara gate where the protesters blocked Pragati Sarani road throughout the day. Faisal announced the postponement of their programme there.

A group of students objected to the decision and decided to continue the blockade. They also left the place around 7pm after an hour of discussion.

Kawser Habib, a student of North South University, later told the media that they would take position at the Bashundhara gate at 10am on Thursday.

Protesters from American International University-Bangladesh and Independent University, Bangladesh, and a group of students of BUP expressed solidarity with the programme.

 

Abrar was run over and killed by a bus operated by Suprobhat Paribahan at the Bashundhara gate in Nodda while waiting for a BUP bus early on Tuesday morning.

Students of BUP, a university at Mirpur Cantonment, then took to the streets at Nodda and protested throughout the day. 

Their demands include maximum penalty for the bus driver within 10 days, revocation of Suprobhat Paribahan’s licence to operate, establishment of a bus stand, a government order requiring drivers to display their photograph and licence inside the bus, installation of a footbridge at the Bashundhara gate and CCTV cameras to monitor traffic officers.

School-goers marched to join the students of Bangladesh University of Professionals, who were demonstrating at Nodda four the second day on Wednesday against the death of their peer Abrar Ahmed Chowdhury. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Commuters walking through Pragati Sarani road in Dhaka on Wednesday as protests for road safety sparked by the death of a university student brought traffic in the area to a halt. Photo: Mahmud Zaman Ovi

Mayor Atiqul, who met the protesters on Tuesday morning and urged them to leave the streets, agreed that the demands were logical and pledged to build a footbridge named after Abrar in front of the Bashundhara gate.

Police seized the bus and arrested its driver after the crash.

Bangladesh Road Transport Authority or BRTA suspended the bus’s registration and blamed reckless driving for the death.

The protesters returned home on Tuesday evening but came back on Wednesday morning.

Students from different institutions joined the demonstrators at Nodda as protests spread elsewhere in the capital, grinding traffic to a halt.

The mayor, BUP Vice-Chancellor Major General Md Emdad-Ul-Bari, and Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Asaduzzaman Miah met the students at Nodda around 11am.

They laid the foundation of a footbridge named after Abrar at the time.

Later, a group of 10 student representatives went to the mayor’s office where they decided to lift the blockade for now.

 

The protesters, who were shouting slogans like “Justice for Abrar”, “We won’t fail our brother’s sacrifice”, “How much more blood will be needed?”, also held a Gayebana Namaz-e-Janaza or funeral prayers in absentia of Abrar at Nodda.

The eldest of two brothers, Abrar lived with his family in Block D of Bashundhara Residential Area. His father, Arif Ahmed Chowdhury, is a former army officer.

Abrar enrolled in BUP last year after completing the A Level. He was laid to rest in the capital's Banani Graveyard on Tuesday evening.  

The High Court on Wednesday ordered Suprobhat Paribahan to pay Tk 1 million in compensation to Abrar’s family within a week.

It also asked why the continuing failure of the authorities to ensure the safety of commuters on the streets should not be declared illegal and why the family of Abrar should not be awarded total Tk 50 million in damages.