Anti-quota protests continue
5-10 mile tailback on major highways
Plight of people knows no bounds
Traffic in the capital Dhaka and on major highways of the country collapsed on Sunday due to road blockades and demonstrations by the students and job seekers demanding the cancelation of the quota system in the public service.
Sufferings of the people mounted as the agitating students put up barricades on roads and highways across the country to press home their demand.
Thousands of vehicles got stuck in 5-10 mile-long tailbacks on the different highways. Traffic in the capital came to a halt for hours as students blocked roads.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami are allegedly provoking the student protests to achieve their political gain.
As part of the ‘Bangla Blockade’ programme, students blocked roads in Dhaka city, Chattogram city and at different points on Dhaka-Aricha, Dhaka-Chattogram, Khulna-Kusthia and Dhaka-Barisal highways to protest the reinstatement of the quota system in government jobs.
In the capital, anti-quota protesters blocked roads in Chankharpul, Shahbagh intersection, Science Lab intersection, Agargaon, Mohakhali, Tantibazar and Paltan areas.
Dhaka University (DU) students blocked the Shahbagh intersection as part of a protest against the quota system. The protest began with a procession starting from the DU central library. The procession headed toward Shahbagh via the Raju Memorial Sculpture at TSC.
Police erected a barrier in front of the Shahbagh metro rail station to prevent the protesters from advancing further. Despite this barrier, a group of protesters broke through it and moved toward Minto Road.
The remaining protesters stayed at Shahbagh, continuing to block the road.
This group of protesters that pushed past the police barricade and blocked the Hotel Intercontinental intersection on Minto Road, halting traffic.
Students from Dhaka College, Eden College and Dhaka City College obstructed traffic at the intersections of Nilkhet and Science Lab. Other student groups blocked roads across the city, including the Agargaon, Mohakhali and Paltan.
Imran Hossain, a DU student, said “We will continue to block the roads if the authorities concerned do not pay heed to our demand.”
Meanwhile, students of Comilla University blocked the Comilla section of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway on Sunday. The protest began at the university campus and escalated when it reached the Kotbari Bishwaroad area of the highway, resulting in severe traffic congestion on both sides of the highway.
Students of Jahangirnagar University blocked the Dhaka-Aricha Highway in front of the campus’s main entrance for two hours from 11:00am to 1:00pm, causing a long tailback on one of the busiest highways in the country.
Students of Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia blocked the Kushtia-Khulna highway around 11:30am, causing a 10-kilometre tailback on both sides of the road.
Students of Barisal University (BU) blocked the Dhaka-Barisal Highway adjacent to the main gate of the campus. The blockade created a 5- kilometre long tailback on both sides of the highway.
They chanted slogans, demanding the cancellation of the quota system and threatened to continue their protest until their demands are met.
On Thursday, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld until further order the June 5 High Court verdict that reinstated the quota system terming illegal the 2018 government circular abolishing the 30 per cent quota for freedom fighters in government jobs.
