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They bring traffic to a standstill in Shahbagh, causing suffering to commuters
Published : 02 Jul 2024, 07:53 PM
Students of several universities have demonstrated in Dhaka's Shahbagh for the reinstatement of the 2018 notification that abolished the quota system in government jobs.
Under the quota system, it is mandatory for the government to fill up a certain percentage of posts with descendants of the 1971 freedom fighters.
Hundreds of job aspirants and students protested at the busy intersection around 4pm on Tuesday, bringing traffic to a standstill and causing commuters sufferings.
Earlier, around 3pm, the students took out a procession from Dhaka University’s central library under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
After marching through the major roads of the campus, the students blocked the Shahbagh intersection before returning to Dhaka University around 5:30pm.
Nahid Islam, the movement's coordinator, said: “The grandchildren of the freedom fighters do not belong to a disadvantaged class. Retaining the quota system for them is not logical at all. We want jobs based on merit.
“The 2018 notification issued by the Cabinet should be reinstated immediately. Otherwise, we will continue with our movement.”
Nahid said the students will again gather in front of Dhaka University’s central library around 2:30pm on Wednesday.
“We will demonstrate in front of the Raju Sculpture,” he added.
Sharjish Islam, a student of Dhaka University’s zoology department, told http://bdnews24.com: “We have four demands. Our first demand is to reinstate the 2018 notice for merit-based recruitment of Grade 1 and Grade 2 government jobs.
“Our second demand is to form a reasonable quota system by setting up a commission for the marginal groups.”
The third demand is that the quota facility cannot be used more than once in government job recruitment examinations, Sharjish said.
“Lastly, any vacant positions previously held by a person from a quota should be filled on the basis of merit.”
