Anti-discrimination student movement will hold “Dhaka March” today

The Anti-Discrimination Students Movement has announced that it will hold a “March to Dhaka” event today to raise its one-point demand, which is the resignation of the Sheikh Hasina-led government, the Daily Star reported.

he/she urged students and people across the country to participate in the march to Dhaka. According to The Daily Star report, three coordinators of the movement – Asif Mahmud, Sarjis Alam and Abu Bakar Majumder – have confirmed their march.

Initially, the “Dhaka March” was scheduled to take place on Tuesday. However, the march was later rescheduled for Monday. Protest organisers said the date for the ‘Dhaka March’ was decided due to the deaths of several people and the current situation, reports The Daily Star.

Earlier on August 3, the organisers of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement announced a one-point demand for the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and her cabinet members. Nahid Islam, one of the key organisers, announced this demand at a rally at the Central Shaheed Minar.

This announcement by the anti-discrimination student movement comes after Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina urged agitating students to sit with her at the Gono Bhaban to end the violence centred around the quota reform protests.

She said, “The doors of Gono Bhavan are open. I want to sit with the agitating students and listen to them. I do not want any confrontation.”

She made the remarks during a meeting with central leaders of the Peshajibi Somnoy Parishad (Professional Coordination Council) at Gono Bhaban on Saturday. Sheikh Hasina asked the relevant authorities to release the detained general students.

Sheikh Hasina assured that there will be prosecution for every murder that took place during the anti-reservation protests. “There should be prosecution for every murder,” she said.

She said, “I am telling you again that I am still willing to hold talks if the agitators want. They can come (to Gono Bhavan) any time. If necessary, they can come with their guardians.”

he/she announced his/her decision to scrap “Protoy”, the proposed universal pension scheme for universities, autonomous and state-owned organisations.

In the wake of the deepening crisis, Bangladesh has announced a three-day closure of public and private offices, including banks, while students have scheduled a long march today that could lead them to a confrontation with pro-government groups, the Daily Star reports.

This new wave of protests comes after demonstrators raised a single demand: the resignation of Hasina and members of her cabinet. They also launched a campaign of non-cooperation at the same time, advising citizens not to pay taxes and migrant workers not to send money home through the banking system.

At least 93 people have been killed in a new wave of violence in Bangladesh. Thousands have been injured, many of them with gunshot wounds, the Daily Star reported on Monday.

Anti-government protesters clashed with police in at least 20 districts on Sunday on the first day of the student-led non-cooperation campaign aimed at keeping up pressure on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to resign.

With yesterday’s toll, the anti-government rallies have claimed the lives of 300 people in just three weeks, making it the bloodiest period in the history of Bangladesh’s civil movement, the Daily Star reports.

The situation in Bangladesh became more tense when members of the ruling Awami League took to the streets to suppress anti-government protests and the situation turned violent.

Protests in Bangladesh have been triggered by demands for reform of the quota system, which reserves civil service jobs for specific groups, including descendants of 1971 war veterans.

The unrest escalated after students protested against a new policy allocating government jobs to descendants of freedom fighters, resulting in violence, including attacks on state television headquarters and police booths in Dhaka.