BNP extends moral support to movements of students and teachers

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has extended moral support to the ongoing movement of students demanding cancellation of quota system and that of university teachers demanding withdrawal of universal pension scheme prottoy. The BNP said it considers both the movements as ‘just’ and ‘logical’.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said this at a press conference on Saturday.

BNP held an emergency meeting of its standing committee, its highest decision making body, on Thursday night. The decision to extend moral support to the two ongoing movements was taken during the meeting.

Asked if BNP is trying to cash in on the anti-quota movement of the students, Fakhrul said, “BNP is a political party, it’s the party’s obligation to give its reaction to what is happening in the country. This is a student movement, so it is not necessary for BNP to get involved with it. But won’t we morally support a just movement?”

Mirza Fakhrul said there might be a quota for real freedom fighters, women, persons with disabilities but it can no way be 56 per cent. There might be a 5 to 10 per cent quota in government jobs.

He said the existing quota of 30 per cent for freedom fighters is illogical since there are questions about the credentials of hundreds of freedom fighters.

Fakhrul said it is impossible to keep up with the current world order based on technology and merit keeping a 56 per cent quota in government jobs.

He also alleged that the current authoritarian and illegitimate government is using the judiciary, like they did in the past, to thwart the just demand of the students.

“We are on the same page with the students’ movement on their just and logical demand of quota reform. We believe the government’s effort to thwart this movement of the students on the pretext of law and judiciary will fail as history teaches us that just movement of the people can never be failed,” Fakhrul said.

The BNP leaders also explained the rationale behind supporting the teachers’ movement.

“The issue of teachers is sensitive because they don’t have any extra source of income. Others can have illegal means of money making through corruption, but the teachers don’t have. They have to rely solely on their salary,” he added.

The BNP leader urged the government to cancel the universal pension scheme without further delay saying that it has been introduced to keep another way of corruption open for the bankrupt government.

The students and job seekers protesting against the reinstatement of the quota system in government jobs blocked Shahbagh intersection of the city on Thursday for five hours and announced fresh programmes.

Students of several public universities have been waging a movement as the High Court declared the cancellation of the freedom fighter quota in 2018 through a circular as illegal on 5 June this year.

The students announced strikes in all colleges and universities of the country on next Sunday to press home their demand.

Meanwhile, the teachers of public universities have been boycotting all classes and examinations as part of an indefinite strike, demanding their exclusion from the pension scheme.