Quota reform movement to continue, vow students
Rashed denied bail
Staff Reporter
Several hundred students of Dhaka University (DU) and Jahangirnagar University (JU) yesterday vowed to continue their protest programmes until their demands were met. They reiterated their demand for the release of students arrested for taking part in the quota reforms movement.
DU students made the demand at a human chain at the Central Shaheed Minar on the varsity campus under the banner of All Combined Departments. The students also protested the recent attacks on teachers and students of different universities when they were demanding quota reforms in government jobs.
They also demanded the release of all detained quota reformists who have been put behind bars and exemplary punishment for those who had dared to attack the teachers and students during the quota movement. They asked for safety for on all varsity campuses. On Sunday, Prof. Fahmidul Haq, Prof. Abdur Razzaque Khan and Prof. Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khanall from DUwere assaulted by some members of the Awami League students front, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), on the DU campus when they tried to save the students from attacks.
Meanwhile, Rashed, joint convener of the quota reform movement, who was in jail in two separate cases, was presented before a court yesterday after the completion of his 10-day remand. This followed a previous five-day remand grilling. The court sent him to jail again after rejecting his bail prayer for the second time.
Several other students demaning quota reforms are in prison. During yesterdays proceedings, the investigating officer of the case told the court to keep Rashed in jail until the end of the investigation of the case. On the other hand, the students lawyer, Zahidur Rahman, requested the court to grant him bail.
After hearing both sides, the court rejected the bail plea and sent Rashed to jail.
Earlier, on July 8, Rashed was produced before the court with a 20-day remand application in two cases of vandalism under the ICT Act. After the hearing, the court granted a 10-day remand for five days in the two cases.
On July 1, Rashed was detained from Bhasantek, Dhaka, in a case filed by a BCL leader in Shahbagh police station under the ICT Act.
Meanwhile, boycott of classes and exams of several departments continued in JU for the third consecutive day as students protested the recent spate of attacks on some teachers and students who were demanding quota reforms in the civil service. Students of 13 departments boycotted their classes and exams yesterday. Several hundred students formed a human chain on the campus and demanded reformation of the quota system. They also demanded immediate publication of the gazette notification bringing quota reforms.
The students of anthropology and mathematics departments gathered under the banner of General Students. They separately formed a human chain on the Amar Ekush premises yesterday, demanding exemplary punishment for the attackers.
Besides, students of the botany and physics department formed separate human chains near the Central Shaheed Minar premises at JU in the morning demanding safety on the campus.
Holding various placards, the students demanded the release of arrested quota reforms leaders. They also demanded the release of the students who are in jail now and protested the threat of sexual harassment allegedly made by some BCL men to one of their fellow female students.
We urge the government to withdraw all the cases filed at different police stations across the country during the quota reform stir in April, said Sharmin Akter Sathi, a student of the botany department, at the programme.
Our movement will continue until our demands are met, she added.
