Students of various university colleges including Dhaka University (DU) broke the police barricade and took a stand at Shahbag intersection demanding quota reform. The police could not stop them despite their efforts.
Ignoring the rain on the 4th day of the Bengali blockade on Thursday, the agitators marched from the Dhaka University campus and went to Shahbagh around 5 pm on Thursday (July 11) and broke the police barricade.
A part of them marched towards Banglamotor. Others stayed at Shahbagh intersection. Later they continue their agitation by blocking the road from Shahbagh to Hotel Intercontinental Mor.
The students chanted ‘fake’, ‘fake’ while breaking the barricade. Policemen can be seen standing nearby.
Protesters are holding ‘Bangla Blockade’ program across the country for the fourth day today to demand reform of quota system in government jobs. They started gathering at Dhaka University from 3:30 pm. Later around 4:30 pm they circled the campus with a procession and proceeded towards Shahbagh, the main point of the movement.
However, the police had already set up a barricade near the Shahbag police station to stop the protesters. The police were later forced to retreat in the face of the students’ march. The students broke the police barricade and stopped traffic on various roads including Shah Bagh.
Students joined the Shahbagh blockade by marching under the banner of ‘anti-discrimination student movement’ from various halls and departments of Dhaka University. Students of Titumir College and Jagannath University joined the movement by taking campus cars to Dhaka University.
As in the last few days, the people going to various destinations have suffered due to the blocking of vehicles. Passengers are forced to walk down from the car.
Students of Shahidullah Hall, Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall and Amar Ekushey Hall of Dhaka University have blocked the Chankharpool intersection and Dhaka Medical intersection of DU campus. Students of Dhaka College and Eden College took up positions at Neelkhet and Sciencelab intersections.
The students were asked about the ‘principle of the constitution/liberation war, equality of opportunity’, ‘Sara Banglaye Khabar De, Kota Prathar Kabar De’, ‘High Court or Rajpath? Rajpath, Rajpath’, ‘Quota system, want to cancel, want to cancel’, ‘Against quota system, direct action’, ‘Quota or merit? Medha Medha’, ‘Dafa one demand one, quota not come back’, ‘compromise or struggle? Students started chanting slogans like ‘Sangram Sangram’, ‘There is no room for discrimination in the Bengal of liberation war’. Apart from this, students can be seen performing patriotic songs and poems along with slogans.
It should be noted that the students had a four-point demand earlier. But it stands at one point. Their one-point demand is ‘Abolish the discriminatory quota in government jobs and bring the quota for the backward communities mentioned in the constitution to the minimum level and pass the law in the parliament.