Photo : Collected
The anti-quota protesters will announce the next programme in their movement on Saturday afternoon.
Abu Baker Majumdar, one of the key organisers of the protests, said that all the coordinators of the movement from campuses across the country will consult using both online and offline platforms and come to a decision with regards to their next move.
“Then we will disclose it tomorrow (Saturday) at 6pm in front of the DU Central Library,” Majumdar said.
Earlier, the students of Dhaka University held a protest rally and blocked the Shahbagh crossing, in response to yesterday's police action on students in several locations outside Dhaka, demanding justice.
As per the previously announced schedule, the students of Dhaka University came together in front of the central library around 4pm and brought out a protest rally, which later marched towards Shahbagh and blocked the crossing unannounced.
Later around 4.30pm, the students of Dhaka College came to Shahbagh in procession and joined the students of Dhaka University
From there, they chanted slogans seeking justice for the police attack.
The demonstration broke up around 6.20pm, with Majumdar announcing tomorrow's program before leaving Shahbagh.
The quota system, which reserved 56 percent of positions in government jobs for various quotas, was abolished in 2018. This decision was challenged in 2021 by descendants of freedom fighters, leading to a High Court ruling on June 5, 2024, declaring the abolition of the freedom fighters’ quota, which ran to 30 percent, illegal.
The government subsequently moved the Chamber Court of the Appellate Division to suspend the High Court order. The AD on Thursday issued an order to maintain the status quo for a month on the High Court's judgment to reinstate the freedom fighter quota system for first and second-class government jobs.
Messenger/Sumon