Quota protests: Students briefly block Shahbagh intersection

Several hundred students briefly blocked Shahbagh intersection in the capital this afternoon for the second consecutive day against reinstatement of the quota system in government jobs.
However, they lifted the blockade after one and a half hours around 5:15pm, reports our Dhaka University campus correspondent.
Nahid Islam, one of the organisers of the movement, said, “We will gather tomorrow at DU Central Library around 11:00am.”
Around 3:45pm, chanting slogans the protesters gathered at the busy intersection. Following the blockade, vehicular movement came to a halt on the roads from Shahbagh to Bangla Motor, Shahbagh to Science Lab, and Shahbagh to Kakrail.
Hasib Al Islam, one of the organisers of “Boishommo Birodhi Chattrra Andolon”, said, “Recently, the High Court declared the 2018 quota cancellation circular illegal. The government filed a writ petition with the court and the court is scheduled to pronounce a verdict on the quota system tomorrow. We have been waiting for that. If the quota system is reinstated, we will go on a tougher strike.”
The protesters first gathered in front of DU’s Central Library from different dormitories around 2:30pm. Then they brought out a procession and marched towards Memory Eternal and moved to Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) and after that they blocked the Shahbagh intersection.
A team of police personnel took position before the protesters arrived there.
Ashraful Islam, deputy commissioner of Ramna zone, told The Daily Star, “We have requested the protestors to leave from the busy road. But they have not complied yet.”
The students started the movement after the HC on June 5 declared illegal the government decision that in 2018 cancelled the 30 percent quota system for the freedom fighters’ children in the civil service of ninth to 13th grades.
Meanwhile, hundreds of students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) blocked the Dhaka-Aricha highway around 3:15pm against the reinstatement of quota system in government jobs.
The protest caused a massive traffic jam, leaving hundreds of vehicles stuck on both sides of the highway, our Savar correspondent reports.
AFM Sayeed, officer-in-charge of Ashulia Police Station, said, “We are trying to counsel the students and restore the vehicular movement.”