Anti-quota protesters plan march today despite govt hardline
Case filed against ‘unidentified students’
Anti-quota protesters plan to march in the capital today (14 July) and submit a memorandum outlining their demands to the President, despite the government taking a hardline stance against the movement, including a lawsuit already filed against "unidentified students" for damaging police vehicles.
Besides, statements from several ministers and police officers indicate that they are taking a tougher stance against the students who have been agitating for quota reform in the government job recruitment process.
The case was filed with the Shahbagh police station on Friday (12 July) by Khalilur Rahman, a driver from the transport department of Rajarbagh Police Lines.
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According to the case document, on 11 July afternoon, a group of students from Dhaka University during their protests reached Shahbagh intersection and began to break through police barricades and attacked officials with bricks and stones.
Later, they vandalised government properties, including an armoured personnel carrier and a water cannon near the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University. At around 6pm, a group of students from Jagannath University joined the protest and began to attack police officers again, as per the case documents.
Detective Branch (DB) Chief Harun Or Rashid said today during a press briefing, "Without following the High Court's instructions if someone blocks roads, attacks vehicles, and throws brickbats in the name of agitation, we can assume that infiltrators are doing these things."
Meanwhile, announcing today's protest march, the movement coordinators stated today that they will continue their demonstrations until their demands are met.
"We will hold a protest march tomorrow [Sunday] at 11am, starting from Dhaka University campus. Students from different districts will [come together and] present their demands in a letter to the President. Outside Dhaka, demands will be handed over to the deputy commissioners," Hasnat Abdullah, one of the coordinators of the movement, said at a press conference in front of the Dhaka University central library.
Nahid Islam, another coordinator of the movement, said, "We have been carrying on a peaceful movement since the beginning. The government should have discussed it with us and coordinated it. But we have seen that the students were attacked by the police and the ruling party student body."
Earlier, at least 20 people, including students and policemen, were injured when the police cracked down on students of Cumilla University protesting against the quota system in government jobs, protesters said.
Referring to the case filed against "unidentified" students, the coordinators said the case must be withdrawn within 24 hours.
"Those who attacked the students should be brought to justice. Rubber bullets were fired at Cumilla University students. Thirty of them were injured," Nahid said.
More pressure on quota protests
Several ministers, including Roads and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, have made statements against the ongoing anti-quota movement.
Obaidul Quader said the demands and statements of the quota protesters contradict the constitution and the fundamental principles of the state.
"The law regarding the quota system will proceed at its own pace," he said at a press briefing at the Awami League president's office in Dhanmondi.
Emphasising the necessity of the quota system in the country's current context, Quader said a vested group is attempting to exploit the quota reform movement for their personal interest.
During a briefing at the Awami League President's office in Dhanmondi this afternoon, He further highlighted that Bangladesh has one of the lowest quota percentages for recruitment in South Asia, citing that India has 60%, Pakistan 92.5%, Nepal 45%, and Sri Lanka 50% in public sector jobs and 60% in university admissions.
At a programme in Mymensingh, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said, "The students' movement should be stopped because there are quotas everywhere in the world. All countries have some backward areas, just as we have quotas for ethnic minorities."
Foreign Minister Hasan Mahmud and State Minister for Information Mohammad Ali Arafat have also made similar statements on the anti-quota movement.
Meanwhile, at a programme at Madhur Canteen of Dhaka University, Chhatra League President Saddam Hossain stated that the quota reform movement has taken on a political form. "We have a clear warning for those who wish to disrupt the normal course of study," he added.
On the other hand, the Bangladesh Muktijudda Moncho formed a human chain demanding the quick arrest and exemplary punishment of those who taunted Bangabandhu, freedom fighters, and the Liberation War.
They also called for the reinstatement of the freedom fighter quota. The human chain and protest rally were held in front of the Shahbagh National Museum at 4pm today.
