Despite the issuance of a status quo by the Appellate Division on the High Court order on quota in government jobs, students and job seekers who have been protesting the reinstatement of the quota system on Wednesday said that they would continue their “Bangla Blockage” movement until a permanent solution comes from the government’s executive branch.
However, instead of starting in the morning, they will continue to enforce the blockades across the country from 3:30pm every day, starting from Thursday.
Asif Mahmud, one of the protestors on the frontline, made the announcement from a rally at the Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka at around 7:30pm Wednesday.
Sarjis Alam, a coordinator of the protests, said, “Our demand is directed to the government, not to the High Court. We do not want to follow or suffer the lengthy process of the High Court. If the government or executive branch assures us directly, we will leave the road.
“We are not supposed to stay on roads. It is not our place. We want to get back to our studies soon without wasting our valuable time.”
The protesters also demanded the government to form a commission to reform the system.
They said that their demand is still the same as the movement in 2018 was for quota reform. Their basic demand was to abolish the unreasonable and discriminatory quotas in all grades of government jobs and maintain a minimum quota for the disadvantaged groups as mentioned in the constitution by passing a law in parliament.
Hasnat Abdullah, one of the leaders of the movement at Dhaka University, said the Appellate Division's status quo order was a strategy to stop the movement. “But we are adamant to continue the movement.”
“We want the solution to come from the government’s executive branch, not from the court. The government must form a commission and the ratio of the quota should be logical,” he said.
For the seventh consecutive day of the movement, thousands of students and job seekers brought out processions and blockaded major roads and intersections, rail routes and expressways in Dhaka and other districts around the country in the morning.
The blockades disrupted traffic and railways across the capital city and other parts of the country, causing significant public suffering throughout the day.
Dhaka comes to a standstill
The protesters on Tuesday announced that the 'Bangla Blockade' will run from 10am to evening on Wednesday.
In Dhaka, students gathered at the Shahbagh intersection after 10am, chanting slogans against the quota system, bringing vehicular movement in the area to a standstill.
Groups of protesters also blockaded major arteries and key intersections across the capital — including Karwan Bazar, Bangla Motor, Farmgate, Agargaon, Chankharpul, Bangabazar, High Court intersection, Matsya Bhaban, Gulistan, Science Laboratory, Nilkhet, Rampura, Mohakhali and Dhaka-Aricha Highway — around the same time, causing long gridlocks and leaving commuters suffering immensely.
In every area, frustrated commuters were seen trying to reach their destinations on foot.
There were fewer public transports than normal on the routes to Dhaka from Chattogram, Sylhet, Cumilla, Feni, Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Munshiganj, Barishal and the northern part of the country.
Fewer travellers had come from Narayanganj, Narsingdi, Signboard, Chattogram Road, Rayerbagh, Shonir Akhra, Keraniganj, Postogola, Sreenagar and Munshiganj for work and business too, meaning there were fewer vehicles on the road.
Due to the blockades, outgoing European Union Ambassador to Bangladesh Charles Whiteley on Wednesday had to abandon his car on the Dhaka Expressway and find alternative ways to reach the parliament complex for his scheduled farewell meeting with Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury.
Train communications between Dhaka and other parts of the country were restored after six hours of suspension as quota protestors withdrew the blockade just before the evening.
At around 5:20pm, students began lifting blockades from Dhaka streets and highways and headed to the Shahbagh intersection to join the main rally.
Dhaka Metro Rail also faced huge passenger pressure on Wednesday during the blockades on the roads. Long queues were seen at nearly all the stations.
Outside the capital
In Cumilla, students from Cumilla University blocked the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway at Kotbari Bishwa Road at around 11am, causing a long tailback on both sides of the highway.
Additional police were deployed to maintain law and order, reports UNB.
In Khulna, students from Brajalal College took to the streets at Natun Rasta at around 10am as part of the Bangla Blockade.
They also blocked railway tracks in the city, halting train communications.
Similarly, students from Bangladesh Agricultural University barricaded railway tracks, halting the Dewanganj-bound Teesta Express from Dhaka at Jabbarer Mor at around 10:45am, suspending train services. They also marched on campus to support the Bangla Blockade.
Students of Rajshahi University and Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi Highway around noon and lifted the blockade at around 4pm.
The High Court on June 5 ordered the government to retain the 30 per cent freedom fighter quota in government jobs. It also declared the circular issued on October 4, 2018, cancelling the quota system illegal.
Soon after the order, students announced their non-stop movement.
The quota system was introduced through an executive order in 1972 and was amended several times.
