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Published : 27 Aug 2025, 02:29 PM
Engineering students marching towards Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus’s official residence, the State Guest House Jamuna, have clashed with police who blocked their procession.
Reporting from the scene, bdnews24.com correspondent Sabikunnahar Lipi said that the engineering students who had gathered at the Shahbagh intersection for an hour or so began to march towards Jamuna around 1:30pm on Wednesday.
Police blocked the march near the InterContinental Dhaka intersection. At one point, law enforcers used tear gas shells and sound grenades to disperse the crowd.
When students began to march towards Jamuna once again, police used water cannons on them. Students and law enforcers then engaged in a chase and counter-chase.
The atmosphere in the area remains tense.
The protesting students retreated back towards the Shahbagh intersection and the sounds of tear gas and sound grenades can be heard.
They blockaded the main thoroughfare in the capital around 11am as part of their “Long March to Dhaka” programme. The protest brought traffic to a standstill at the intersection and on nearby roads, causing difficulties for commuters.
Arman Hossain, a protesting BUET student, had said the students would march towards the Secretariat in the afternoon.
The protesters’ demands include:
• Recruitment of assistant engineers in the ninth grade only through examinations, with a minimum qualification of BSc in engineering
• Allowing higher-degree holders to apply for 10th-grade posts currently reserved for diploma engineers
• Restricting the professional title of “engineer” to BSc graduates
Students from the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and several other engineering institutions gathered at the Shahbagh intersection at 3pm on Tuesday. They then blocked the intersection and held processions to push for their demands.
Around midnight on Sunday, a group of BUET students had attempted to march to Jamuna to protest the “beating and death threats” against a former student. Police had also blocked them in front of the InterContinental Dhaka. The protesters held a three-hour protest at the location before dispersing.
