Photo : Messenger
Quota protesters have announced a nationwide ‘Bangla Blockade’ for Thursday, starting at 3:30 pm.
Asif Mahmud, one of the protestors in the frontline, made the announcement from Shahbagh intersection around 7:30 pm this evening.
Earlier, at 5:20 pm, students began lifting blockades from highways and headed to Shahbagh intersection to join the main rally.
Sarjis Alam, a coordinator of the anti-quota protests, said, “Our demand is directed to the government, not to the High Court. We don’t want to follow or suffer the lengthy process of the High Court. If the government or executive department 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 the studies soon without wasting our valuable time.”
Prior of the day, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court ordered a month-long status quo on the High Court's judgment to reinstate the freedom fighter quota system for first and second-class government jobs.
Students of Dhaka University and Jahangirnagar University however, announced they will continue the "Bangla Blockade" movement despite the Appellate Division's order.
Since 2 July, university students have been holding sit-ins, organising marches and blocking roads and highways, demanding the reinstatement of the 2018 quota cancellation circular.
The 2018 rounds of quota reform protests were called off when Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina declared the abolition of the system in April of the same year.
Read more: Today’s Bangla Blockade ends, tomorrow from 3:30pm
Messenger/Sumon
