Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
Engineering universities across Bangladesh witnessed a “complete shutdown” on Thursday after students enforced a boycott of classes and exams in protest against Wednesday’s police action on demonstrators and to press their three-point demand.
The platform Prokousholi Odhikar Andolon announced the programme late Wednesday, declaring that institutions including Buet, Cuet and other engineering universities would remain shut. At Buet—closed on Thursdays as part of its weekly holiday—students said they had boycotted scheduled exams in solidarity. The authorities later postponed all undergraduate exams until September 18, citing the “prevailing situation.”
Cuet also saw deserted classrooms, while students of Rajshahi University or RU’s Engineering and Agriculture faculties blocked the Dhaka–Rajshahi highway, staging a sit-in from 11 am to 1 pm after bringing out a protest march on campus. Students from RU’s Agriculture Faculty also joined.
“Many students were injured in the police attack on the ‘Long March to Dhaka’ programme, and several are in critical condition. Yet, despite repeatedly submitting memorandums, we have received no response,” said Sifat Abu Saleh, chief organiser of the RU chapter of the Engineering Rights Movement. Another student, Ahmed Hasan, added: “Our three-point demand has been ignored from the very beginning. The home adviser must make a public apology for the police attack.”
The protests follow Wednesday’s blockade at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka, where students marching towards interim chief adviser Muhammad Yunus’ residence were stopped near Hotel InterContinental. Police fired sound grenades, tear gas and water cannons, and baton-charged the crowd, leaving several injured.
On Wednesday, students from RU, Ruet and Pabna University of Science and Technology had also blocked highways in Rajshahi, while earlier on August 24 they staged a similar blockade with the same demands.
Late Wednesday, Prokousholi Odhikar Andolon general secretary Sakibul Haque Lipu said the next course of action would be announced at a press conference at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh.