Students of 7 colleges announce 'indefinite sit-in' in front of Shikkha Bhaban

Students from seven Dhaka-based government colleges on Monday afternoon announced they would continue their sit-in demonstration in front of the Shikkha Bhaban until the government meets their four demands concerning formation of the combined “Dhaka Central University.”

Earlier, the students launched a march towards the Secretariat, but police blocked them by setting up barricades near the Shikkha Bhaban. Then, the students resorted to holding a sit-in, which halted traffic on the Shikkha Bhaban-Secretariat road, causing a major traffic gridlock in nearby areas.

Their four demands are:

1) Issuing the final ordinance, amended with inputs from stakeholders, on establishing university within three working days

2) Recognizing all the current students unconditionally as the students of the proposed university

3) Initiating university activities within 15 working days of ordinance issuance by appointing all the senior officials within the stipulated time

4) Adoption of a clear stance by the education ministry against those who threaten protesting students.

Notably, a parallel movement was expected to start at the Central Shaheed Minar, to voice protest against “mob attempts” to secure the demand, and to seek a peaceful resolution to the issue. The student group has announced a similar anti-mob protest at the Shaheed Minar on Saturday.

The previous night, the “peaceful” protest organisers claimed they represented the majority of seven college students, and alleged that a “fringe group” was trying to hijack the movement through violence against the government.

On Sunday, the education ministry announced that over 6,000 opinions have been collected from concerned citizens, and the opinion review process is ongoing.

After the reviews, meetings will be held with all the stakeholders on finalizing the framework for the proposed combined university, the ministry notification read.

However, the students are not willing to have patience. They want the ordinance on Monday, or at least the date of issuing the ordinance by nightfall, some protest participants claimed.

Around 11:20 am on Monday, groups of students from the Government Shaheed Suhrawardy College, and Kabi Nazrul Government College converged arrived in front of the Shikkha Bhaban.

Later, they were joined by students from Government Titumir College, Dhaka College, Iden Mohila College, Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls College and Mirpur Bangla College.

On 26 March, the government announced that the seven colleges would be merged into a single university. Later, the University Grants Commission (UGC) picked “Dhaka Central University” as the potential name for the university.

However, a section of teachers of the colleges have held separate demonstrations calling for revisions to the university formation plans.

These teachers claim that the plan would tarnish the historic heritage of the seven government colleges, render the existing physical capacity obsolete and threaten the education of higher secondary students.