As July 5 last year was Friday, a weekend holiday, the coordinators of the “Anti-Discrimination Student Movement” carried out a coordinated outreach campaign, both online and offline, to engage more students in their movement to press home their four-point demand.
They carried out the campaign as part of their three-day programme declared on July 4 before lifting the blockade at Shahbagh intersection in the capital protesting the High Court order to retain the quota system in government jobs.
“Tomorrow (Friday), we will conduct a nationwide outreach programme both online and offline in favor of our four-point demands,” Nahid Islam, one of the key-coordinators of the platform and now NCP chief, declared on July 4.
He said, “Our movement will continue . . . until our demands are fulfilled.”
Another key-coordinator of the student platform, Hasnat Abdullah, echoed Nahid, saying, “Our program will not stop on Friday either. We will carry out an extensive campaign both online and offline to mobilize opinion in favor of our four-point demand.”
Responding to the call of the coordinators, students from across the country began participating in rallies and assemblies in large numbers.
Besides, between July 4 and 5, students from every batch of every department in different universities issued joint statements expressing solidarity with the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’s call to boycott classes and examinations.
The campaign resonated widely across almost all universities in the country and received massive attention on social media. The coordinators also shared updated lists on Facebook showing which departments had declared to boycott classes and exams.
On the same day, the ‘White Panel’, a group of BNP-Jamaat leaning teachers of Dhaka University, expressed deep concern over the High Court verdict declaring the 2018 government circular abolishing quotas in public service illegal. They also extended their support to the student movement demanding reinstatement of the 2018 circular.
In a statement, they said, “We express deep concern over the High Court order that declared illegal a part of the 2018 government circular abolishing the quota system in public service. We also express our solidarity with the ongoing movement by students and job seekers protesting the reinstatement of the quota system.”
MSH
