Bangla Press Desk: Students from seven Dhaka-based government colleges launched a sit-in demonstration in front of the Shikkha Bhaban on Monday morning, demanding the issuance of ordinance on the combined “Dhaka Central University.”
Earlier, the students launched a march towards the Secretariat, but police blocked them by setting up barricades near the Shikkha Bhaban. Then, the students resorted to holding a sit-in, which halted traffic on the Shikkha Bhaban-Secretariat road, causing a major traffic gridlock in nearby areas.
The students demanded the government issue the ordinance based on opinions from all stakeholders on Monday, warning delays would prompt strict movement.
Notably, a parallel movement was expected to start at the Central Shaheed Minar, to voice protest against “mob attempts” to secure the demand, and to seek a peaceful resolution to the issue. The student group has announced a similar anti-mob protest at the Shaheed Minar on Saturday.
The previous night, the “peaceful” protest organisers claimed they represented the majority of seven college students, and alleged that a “fringe group” was trying to hijack the movement through violence against the government.
On Sunday, the education ministry announced that over 6,000 opinions have been collected from concerned citizens, and the opinion review process is ongoing.
After the reviews, meetings will be held with all the stakeholders on finalizing the framework for the proposed combined university, the ministry notification read.
However, the students are not willing to have patience. They want the ordinance on Monday, or at least the date of issuing the ordinance by nightfall, some protest participants claimed.
Around 11:20am on Monday, groups of students from the Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College, and Kabi Nazrul Government College converged arrived in front of the Shikkha Bhaban. Later, they were joined by students from Government Titumir College, Dhaka College, Iden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls College and Mirpur Bangla College.
On 26 March, the government announced that the seven colleges would be merged into a single university. Later, the University Grants Commission (UGC) picked “Dhaka Central University” as the potential name for the university.
However, a section of teachers of the colleges have held separate demonstrations calling for revisions to the university formation plans. The teachers claim that the plan would tarnish the historic heritage of the seven government colleges, render the existing physical capacity obsolete and threaten the education of higher secondary students.
BP/SP
