Photo : Collected
For the past three days, higher education institutions across the country have been at a standstill. Classes and exams are halted, and even libraries remain closed.
The demand to cancel the Universal Pension Scheme (Prattay) has led to a strike by teachers and staff, causing a deadlock in 35 universities.
There are 55 public universities in the country, with 16,500 teachers and 34,382 officers and staff, teachers say. Everyone is coming together under one banner, regardless of political affiliation, to press their demands.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader will meet teachers today to discuss their demands.
If the demands are met, the strike will be suspended; otherwise, the movement will intensify with continuous programmes.
The teachers' movement has received support from major political parties, including the BNP.
Jamaat-e-Islami, known for their issue-based activism, has also stated that the teachers' movement is justified and that ignoring their demands will only increase their resentment.
Sources said since the movement is led by teachers who support the ruling Awami League, those who follow Jamaat, BNP, and other political ideologies are also supporting the programme. They assert that this movement is about protecting the honour and dignity of university teachers and resisting interference with university autonomy.
Hence, no teacher wants to maintain any division on this issue. If harmed, all teachers will be affected, leaving no room for political apathy among any group of teachers.
Apart from a few universities, most institutions have organisations of teachers affiliated with Awami League, BNP, and Jamaat.
At various times, Jamaat organises meetings, rallies, and human chains on campuses according to party decisions.
If demands are not met, Jamaat will join the programme. The BNP-affiliated teachers share the same sentiment. Before the 12th National Elections, BNP-affiliated teachers protested against 'dummy elections' in universities.
Similarly, they will unite for the movement to cancel the Universal Pension Scheme. A BNP-affiliated teacher from Dhaka University, seeking anonymity, said, “We are not joining the movement publicly yet, as there are government spies among the teachers who might politicise and sabotage the movement.”
“We want the dignity of teachers to be upheld and our demands met. If not addressed, higher education will be destroyed in the future."
BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the government is pushing teachers towards starvation under the guise of the pension scheme. BNP supports the teachers' anti-pension protest.
When asked, Jamaat's Central Publicity Secretary Advocate Matiur Rahman Akanda told the Daily Messenger, “The movement by teachers in the country's highest educational institutions is justified. The government should promptly accept these legitimate demands. Jamaat-e-Islami believes that to maintain a respectable position for the education system in the future, the government must accept the teachers' demands and ensure an environment for them to return to classes."
Meanwhile, on the third day of the movement yesterday, DU Teachers Association President Prof Nizamul Hoque Bhuiyan also president of the Federation of Bangladesh University Teachers Association said, “The teachers' leaders will meet with Obaidul Quader. He has invited us, and we, the teachers' leaders, will sit in discussion with him and present our demands. If our demands are accepted, we will withdraw from the movement. Otherwise, our movement will continue.”
DUTA General Secretary Prof Dr Zeenat Huda, said, "We have put forward three demands: the cancellation of the Universal Pension Scheme, the implementation of a separate salary structure, and the introduction of a super grade for us. If these demands are not met, we will continue with an indefinite strike.”
Messenger/Fameema
