Engineering students: Protests on amid campus shutdowns
BSc engineering students yesterday announced divisional and national rallies from today to press home their three-point demand.
Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) suspended all undergraduate exams until September 18.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. Student leaders declared the programmes at a press briefing at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, in the capital. They said the "complete shutdown" on campuses would continue until their demands were met.
The government has forming two committees to review issues raised by BSc and diploma engineers.However, the students said the committee formed by the government had made no clear decisions over their demands. They also condemned Wednesday's police action on the protesters near InterContinental hotel, which left many injured. Despite the DMP commissioner's apology, no officer has been suspended or investigated, they said.
On Wednesday afternoon, Buet and other engineering students blocked Shahbagh intersection before marching towards the chief adviser's residence, Jamuna. Police intercepted them near Hotel InterContinental, used sound grenades, teargas canisters, water cannons, and truncheons.
SHUTDOWN
At Buet, which usually remains closed on Thursdays, students boycotted scheduled exams in solidarity. Departments and exam halls were empty yesterday morning. On Wednesday night, the university issued a notice, signed by Registrar Prof NM Golam Zakaria, postponing all undergraduate exams scheduled between August 30 and September 18. The notice cited "the prevailing situation".
Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) also saw a boycott of classes and exams, leaving its campus deserted.
At Rajshahi University, students from Engineering and Agriculture faculties blocked the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway from 11:00am to 1:00pm. They marched on campus streets and staged a sit-in at the main gate.
Sifat Abu Saleh, chief organiser of the university chapter of the Engineering Rights Movement, told The Daily Star that many students were injured during the "Long March to Dhaka," several of them were critically wounded.
"Despite repeatedly submitting memorandums to the government regarding their demands, we have received no response," he said.
REVIEW BODIES
The government formed two committees to examine the demands of engineering students and diploma engineers.
On Wednesday, an eight-member committee, led by Power, Energy, and Mineral Resources Adviser Muhammad Faozul Kabir Khan, was formed. After its first meeting yesterday, a 14-member working group was also constituted, led by Housing and Public Works Secretary Nazrul Islam.
Talking to reporters after the meeting at the Secretariat, Environment Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan, who is a part of the eight-member body, said the group would hear from both sides, consult experts, and review legal matters before submitting recommendations within a month. "This problem has existed for years and cannot be solved overnight," she said, urging protesters to submit demands in writing.
Faozul Kabir said the committee's role was to act as a bridge. "There are differences between BSc and diploma engineers. Our task is to bring both sides together and work out a neutral solution."
The group will meet on Sunday.
Students under Prokoushol Odhikar Andolon are demanding that the post of assistant engineer in the ninth grade be filled only through exams, with BSc engineering as the minimum qualification. They also want higher degree holders to be eligible for 10th grade posts currently reserved for diploma engineers and insist that only BSc graduates should use the title "engineer".
Diploma engineers, meanwhile, are pushing for a seven-point demand. These include clearly separating their roles from those of BSc engineers, reserving sub-assistant engineer posts for diploma graduates, and fixing the staffing ratio of BSc to diploma engineers at 1:5.
They also want the promotion quota from sub-assistant to assistant engineer raised from 33 to 50 percent, administrative posts to remain under the admin cadre, and an end to cadre switching by engineers.
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