Students from seven major colleges in Dhaka will again observe road blockades today, Thursday, demanding the promulgation of the ordinance for the proposed Dhaka Central University.
The blockade programme will be held at Science Lab, Technical and Tantibazar intersections in the capital under the banner of ‘Saat College Biswabidyaloy Rupantor Andolon’ (Seven College University Transformation Movement).
The seven colleges are Dhaka College, Eden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnesa Government Girls’ College, Shaheed Suhrawardy College, Kabi Nazrul Government College, Government Bangla College and Titumir College.
One of the student leaders spearheading the movement, Nayeem Howladar, informed Prothom Alo of today’s programme on Wednesday.
As previously announced, a large number of students from the colleges staged blockades at Science Lab, Technical and Tantibazar intersections on Wednesday. In addition, students briefly blocked a road in the Mohakhali area.
The blockades at these key points of the capital caused severe traffic congestion on the adjoining roads and surrounding areas. This had led to extreme hardship for commuters and transport drivers and their assistants.
At around 1:00 pm yesterday, protesting students blocked the Science Lab intersection. The blockade at the Technical intersection in the Mirpur area began at around 12:30 pm, while the Tantibazar intersection in Old Dhaka was blocked at approximately 11:45 am.
At around 1:00 pm, some students of Titumir College also blocked a road in the Mohakhali area for about 10 minutes before dispersing.
Students left the Technical intersection at around 3:30 pm, while they withdrew from the Tantibazar intersection at around 3:15 pm. The blockade at the Science Lab intersection was withdrawn at 5:40 pm.
The protesting students demanded that the updated draft of the Dhaka Central University ordinance must be approved at today’s advisory council meeting. At the same time, the final ordinance must be issued by the President.
The education ministry has stated that the revised draft of the proposed Dhaka Central University ordinance was sent to the public administration ministry on Tuesday.
The draft will be placed before the advisory council for approval after obtaining policy clearance from the cabinet division and vetting by the law ministry within a short timeframe.
The crisis surrounding the seven colleges has persisted since 2017, following their affiliation with the University of Dhaka without adequate preparation.
Although an initiative was taken to resolve the crisis by establishing “Dhaka Central University”, protests erupted over the initial draft of the ordinance.
According to the recently revised draft, the colleges will continue their academic activities while remaining “affiliated” with the new university, broadly in a manner similar to the National University, while retaining their individual characteristics.