JU, JnU student protests enter second day demanding quota abolishment
2 JULY 2024
JU students blocked Dhaka-Aricha highway
JnU students held rally in front of main gate
Agitating JU students block Dhaka-Aricha highway on Tuesday, July 2, 2024. Photo: Dhaka Tribune
Ashibul Islam Rifat /JnU Correspondent
Publish : 02 Jul 2024, 08:11 PM Update : 02 Jul 2024, 08:11 PM
For the second consecutive day, students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) and Jagannath University (JnU) staged protest demanding the upholding of the 2018 circular abolishing the quota system in government jobs and ensured merit-based recruitment.
At JU, the protest began at 3:30pm, with students gathering in front of the library and the procession moved through the university's main areas, including Chourangi and the women's dormitories, before culminating in a blockade of the Dhaka-Aricha highway near the main gate.
The JU students held the blockade for around 15 minutes, announcing a further two-hour blockade for on Wednesday at 3pm.
Sohagi Samia, a student of the Department of Drama and Dramatics, said: "As citizens of Bangladesh, everyone needs a job to live a socially secure life, and the state must ensure this. Thus, I will raise my voice against unemployment and also against the discriminatory quota system."
Shoron Ehsan, president of the Jahangirnagar Cultural Alliance, said: "The constitution stipulates quotas only for the underprivileged, Indigenous people, and marginalized communities. It does not mention any other quotas.”
Jahidul Islam Emon, a student of the 48th batch of the Department of Botany and general secretary of the JU Student Union said: "Quotas are meant only for the disadvantaged communities. Our constitution's 19th clause emphasizes ‘equality of opportunity,’ which is being compromised by the High Court's decision to reinstate quotas.
“Hence, general students demand an emphasis on merit and the reform of the quota system to benefit only the underprivileged," he added.
At JnU, students held a rally in front of the main gate of the University under the banner of the anti-discrimination student movement.
Masud Alam, a graduate student of JnU said that everyone has a contribution to the development of the country. Whoever has the talent, if he gets the place he deserves, will take the country forward as a true patriot.
But if too much benefit is given, no one will understand its value, rather, he will be corrupt, he added.