DU students issue 18-hour ultimatum

Agitating students of Dhaka University yesterday blockaded Shahbagh intersection for nearly two hours, demanding deferment of Dhaka north and south city corporation polls, as it coincides with Saraswati Puja.

The protesters also issued an 18-hour ultimatum to meet their demand, and threatened to lay siege to the Election Commission office otherwise.

“We will besiege the election commission if they do not change the date of the polls within our given time frame,” Utpal Biswash, vice president of Jagannath Hall union told The Daily Star. 

Terming the decision contradictory to the constitution, he also demanded resignation of the officials concerned.

Earlier, around 500 students of the university staged a sit-in, blocking the capital’s Shahbagh intersection at around 5pm.

Vehicular movement on the roads connecting to the intersection remained at a standstill as a result of the blockade.

They withdrew the blockade at 6:30pm after giving the ultimatum.

Earlier in the day, the High Court rejected a writ petition filed for shifting the date of the elections and cleared the way for the Election Commission for holding the election on January 30.

The court passed the order considering the progress in the election process and the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations scheduled to take place on February 2.