Jagannath University students, who have been on movement demanding new residential halls, on Friday announced that they would continue their strike on Sunday and Monday.
The announcement came at a solidarity rally held at the Central Shaheed Minar in the capital.
‘We will observe two-day strike from Sunday and then announce our next course of actions,’ Mahidul Islam Mahi, a coordinator for the demonstrators, told journalists at a briefing after the rally.
‘The demonstration will continue until a specific order comes from the prime minister,’ said Mahi.
Earlier, since noon, hundreds of students of Jagannath University, academics, rights activists, politicians, civil society members and students from different public and private university gathered at Shaheed Minar to show solidarity with the students demanding residential halls.
JnU students came to the venue voicing their only demand ‘We need Hall’.
The entire Shaheed Minar premises turned into a human sea with the presence of students pressing for the demand.
Speakers at the programme focused on the issue that the JnU students were not enjoying dormitory facilities although 11 years had already elapsed since the then Jagannath College started its journey as a university.
Describing the situation ‘pathetic’, they said that the countrywide extremism issue had added extra sufferings to the students who were residing in rented houses.
They also condemned the police attacks on JnU students who were marching towards Prime Minister’s Office to press home their demand for residential halls.
Urging the authorities concerned to take initiative to solve the problem the students were facing, Imran H Sarkar, spokesperson of Ganajagaran Mancha, said the government must take the responsibility of the student until their logical demands were met.
DU teacher Rubayet Ferdous said the government could easily provide free education to all public universities if corruption stopped in the country.
JnU students have been demonstrating since August 2 demanding construction of new residential halls at the spot where the Dhaka Central Jail was previously situated on Nazimuddin Road in Old Dhaka.
Source; New Age
