Anti-quota protestors halt moving train at BAU in Mymensingh 

Students of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) have halted a moving commuter train for around an hour during their protests against the reinstatement of quota system in government recruitments. 

The BAU students also held two protest rallies on the campus at different times on Wednesday. 

At around 12:00pm, over three hundred students gathered on the Mukto Mancha premises and marched through the KR Market before returning to the beginning spot for a protest rally. 

They demanded that the authorities reinstate the 2018 circular that invalidated the quota system in government jobs. 

Later, they held another procession from the Mukto Manch to the Abdul Jabbar intersection on the campus. They blocked a commuter train during the procession at 1:20 pm that was heading from Dhaka to Mohanganj. The train resumed its journey at 2:20 pm when the students called off their protest programme. 

Addressing the programme, Mashsharat Maliha, a postgraduate student from the veterinary science faculty, expressed her utter discontent with the authorities’ handling of the quota system.

“Six years after 2018, we have been forced to protest again about the same quota system. Can this be called development? After all these, we have now been brought back by six years,” she said. 

She expressed concerns about using the liberation war to uphold discrimination, saying, “If the freedom fighter quota remains, the sacrifice made in 1971 against discrimination becomes meaningless. We definitely respect our national heroes, but we will not accept any form of quota or discrimination.” 

She demanded a completely merit-based evaluation in university admissions, job recruitments, and other competitions.

Keeping utmost respect to the freedom fighters, Rashedul Islam, a postgraduate student from the aquaculture department, pointed out that general students and job seekers have been subjected to extreme discrimination due to the quota system. 

“Freedom fighters deserve the maximum respect for life. But there are efforts to use their respect as a pretext to perpetuate extreme discrimination against general students and job seekers,” he said, warning that all the students will wage protests if the court decision goes against them on 3 July. 

In the face of a similar movement, the government canceled the entire quota system in 2018, clearing the way for a complete merit-based recruitment.

Recently, the court invalidated the government’s quota cancellation order, essentially reinstating the quota system. It prompted the job seeking students to take to the streets once again. 

On Tuesday, a large number of students and job aspirants have blocked the Shahbagh intersection in the capital for the second consecutive day, demanding the cancellation of the quota system in government jobs. 

Several thousand students from  Dhaka University, its affiliated seven colleges, and some other colleges under the National University have joined the protest programme.