MPO teachers’ ‘March to Secretariat’ halted by police

The protesters have begun a sit-in demonstration where they were blocked

Police have blocked a march by MPO-affiliated teachers and employees who were heading from the Central Shaheed Minar to the Secretariat to press for three demands, including raising their housing allowance to 20 percent of their salary.

The teachers and employees began their march from Shaheed Minar at 4pm on Tuesday.

As they reached the High Court area around 4:30pm, police intervened and halted their advance.

Policemen and demonstrators faced off in front of the court.

For the third consecutive day, the teachers and employees had been stationed at the Shaheed Minar as part of their “uninterrupted sit-in” under the banner of the MPO-affiliated Education Nationalisation Alliance.

Although the “March to Secretariat” was initially scheduled for the afternoon, the protesters said they had given the government some more time to respond to their demands before proceeding.

The teachers and employees are calling for hiking housing allowance to 20 percent of the basic salary, an increase in the medical allowance from Tk 500 to Tk 1,500, and a rise in the festival allowance for MPO employees from Tk 500 to Tk 750.

After police stopped the procession near the High Court, the protesters began a sit-in demonstration at the spot.

“We will not leave the streets. We will take a stand here,” said Md Habibullah Raju, joint convenor of the alliance and president of the Bangladesh Teachers Forum.