The agitated students have vowed not to leave the streets until their demand for revoking the quota system in the government services is met.

They announced a sit-in programme to be held at all public and private universities across the country on Wednesday (July 3).  

The announcement came from a rally held at Shahbagh intersection of the capital Dhaka on Tuesday.

Earlier, thousands of students of Dhaka University (DU) brought out a procession and held a demonstration at Shahbagh intersection around 4:45pm after marching different streets on the campus.  

Earlier on 1 July, thousands of DU students took to the streets, protesting the restoration of the quota system in government jobs.

Following a nationwide student movement against the quota system, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, while addressing the parliament on 11 April 2018, announced to abolish all sorts of quota privileges in the public service.

Meanwhile, on June 5, 2024, the High Court declared illegal the government decision that in 2018 cancelled the 30 percent quota system for the freedom fighters' children in the civil service of ninth to 13th grades (first and second classes of jobs).

Protesting the HC declaration, the students of the country’s almost all public and private universities got agitated and started waging protests demanding restoration of the circular issued in 2018 revoking the quota system in the government jobs.

In line with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s announcement, the government on 4 October 2018 issued a circular revoking the 10 percent women quota, 30 percent freedom fighters’ quota and 10 percent district quota for first and second-class government jobs.

Later, Ohidul Islam, president of the Central Command Council of Children and Generations of Freedom Fighters, filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the legality of the circular.

Following the writ petition, the HC, in its verdict, declared the circular illegal on 5 June 2018.

Since then, the anti-quota movement started getting momentum among the students of different public and private universities across the country.

BDST: 2120 HRS, JULY 02, 2024
MSK