DU students protest at Shahbagh demanding deferral of Dhaka city election

Students of Dhaka University have launched a protest at Shahbagh after police blocked their way to the Election Commission office to demand a new date for the Dhaka city elections.

The disgruntled students demonstrated at the Shahbagh intersection for a second consecutive day on Wednesday after their calls to reschedule the elections, which coincide with Saraswati Puja, went unheeded.

The protests are set to resume at Raju Memorial Sculpture on Thursday as protest leaders urged students from all educational institutions in Dhaka to stage sit-ins in front of their respective institutions.

Meanwhile, a scuffle broke out at the Shahbagh intersection when a man pulled his gun on protesters in anger at being caught in a gridlock during the blockade. He was subsequently beaten and handed over to the police after angry students seized his gun.

Dhaka University Central Students Union and other organisations have urged the EC to reschedule the Jan 30 city corporation elections to another date as it coincides with Saraswati Puja.

But on Tuesday, the High Court turned down a writ petition seeking a deferral of the elections.

A group of students from Dhaka University subsequently began protests on Tuesday evening and announced a plan to lay siege to the EC headquarters on Wednesday if their demands were not met.

At least 500 students from different halls converged at the Raju Memorial Sculpture at 12:30 pm on Wednesday before taking out a procession in protest.

"The students of Dhaka University will not accept any decision that upholds communalism," said DUCSU AGS Saddam Hossain as he expressed solidarity with the protesters.

Traffic came to a standstill at Shahbagh at around 2 pm as the students protested for an hour.

Traffic returned to normal after 3 pm when the students left the streets, said police.