MPO-listed teachers, staff stage ‘hunger procession’ with empty plates, police intercept

Rejecting the government’s decision to raise their house rent allowance by only 5 per cent, teachers and employees of MPO-listed private educational institutions have staged a “hunger procession” with empty plates in their hands as a symbol of protest.

The demonstration began from the Central Shaheed Minar around 3:15 pm, with thousands of teachers and staff marching towards the education ministry on Sunday, the eighth day of the demonstration.

However, police blocked the procession as it reached the High Court intersection via Doel Chattar in the capital city. Over a hundred police personnel and six platoons of the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed in the area.

The protesters chanted slogans including “hoy dabi mene ne, noyto buke bullet de (either accept our demands or shoot us),” “5 per cent er proggapon, mani na, manbo na (we reject the farcical 5 per cent circular),” “CR Abrar, ar noy dorkar (CR Abrar is no more required).”

Before the procession began, Delwar Hossain Azizi, member secretary of the MPO-bhukta shikkha jatiyakaran protyashi jote (an alliance for nationalisation of MPO-listed educational institutions), addressed the gathering.

“The government has issued a circular granting only a 5 per cent house rent increase. Our position is clear—we reject it. We consider this only a partial victory in our movement. The demonstration will not stop until we achieve full victory.”

The hunger procession had been scheduled to begin at noon, but was delayed, Azizi explained, because they had held a meeting with Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

Referring to that meeting, the teachers’ leader said, “We presented our demands to him, and we believe the BNP fully supports our cause. Mirza Fakhrul assured us that his party would extend every possible support to realise the demands of teachers and employees.”

As of 4:00 pm, police and the protesting teachers and staff remained in a face-off at the High Court intersection, where two water cannons and an armoured vehicle had been positioned.

Earlier in the day, the finance ministry sent a letter to the education ministry approving the proposal to increase house rent by 5 per cent (with a minimum of Tk 2,000) for MPO-listed teachers and staff.

The teachers and employees, however, have been demanding a 20 per cent increase in basic pay (with a minimum of Tk 3,000), along with three specific demands including house rent and nationalisation of MPO-listed institutions.

They had previously rejected the 5 per cent offer and have continued their protest for eight consecutive days.