Jagannath University protesters announce shutdown

Demonstrating Jagannath University students have announced ‘shutdown’ of the university today.

Professor Rois Uddin, general secretary of Jagannath University Teacher’s Association, made the announcement during the sit-in of protesters at Kakrail intersection.

Following discussion with the student representatives, Rois Uddin said, “We have come here to seek our rights and realise our demands. We won’t go back until our demands are met.”

The JnU teacher said the demonstrators have not come to speak against anyone or hatch any conspiracy.

“We’ve come here to press for our just rights but police attacked us indiscriminately. This is complete anarchy and injustice,” said Rois Uddin.

Issuing a stern warning to the interim government, he added, "If any step is taken to remove us from here, the consequences will not be good. No one will be allowed to harm a student in our presence."

Earlier, on Wednesday night, a press release posted on the university’s official Facebook page by the Office of Public Relations, Information, and Publication announced that all examinations of the university’s institutes and departments have been postponed due to unavoidable circumstances.

Following a daylong demonstration on Wednesday, a number of protesting students remained at the Kakrail intersection throughout the night. The protesters are continuing with their sit-in programme at Kakrail intersection even today, Thursday.

Vehicular movement through the Kakrail intersection remains halted because of the protesters’ sit-in programme. This has caused severe congestion on the road leading from Karail intersection towards Paltan.

JnU teachers, students, and staff have been arriving in university buses to join the protest since Thursday morning. At least 24 buses left for Kakrail intersection from in front of the university’s ‘Genocide of ’71’ monument between 9:30 am and 12:00 pm. University faculty, students, and staff went to the protest site in these buses.

Showing support to the demands, former students of the university are also arriving in Dhaka to join the ongoing movement. Many have already joined the protest from various districts including Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, Sylhet, and Mymensingh.

With their three-point demand, teachers and students of JnU began a ‘long march’ towards the chief adviser’s residence, Jamuna, at around 11:45 am on Wednesday. The demands of the students are: A housing allowance must be allocated for 70 per cent of JnU students from the 2025–26 fiscal year until proper housing arrangement is ensured; the proposed budget for Jagannath University for the FY2025–26 must be approved without any amendment, and the construction work of JnU’s second campus must be implemented as a priority project after approving it in the next Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) meeting.