Engineering students continued their blockade at Shahbagh for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, demanding fulfillment of their three-point charter.
As part of their pre-announced ‘Long March to Dhaka’ program, the protesters occupied the key Shahbagh intersection around 11 a.m., bringing traffic movement to a halt in and around the area.
Their demands include not allowing diploma engineers to use the title “engineer” before their names, preventing promotion of diploma engineers to the ninth grade, and ensuring that only graduate engineers are eligible for recruitment in 10th grade government jobs.
On Tuesday, they had already blocked Shahbagh for five hours with the same demands.
“We started the blockade at Shahbagh as an initial step to press home our demands. If needed, we will extend our protest to other areas,” said Abrar Faiyaz, a student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).
The blockade triggered heavy traffic congestion in central Dhaka. Buses from Motsho Bhaban through Shahbagh were forced to return midway, while vehicles coming via Dhaka University routes were not allowed to cross the Shahbagh intersection. Cars heading towards Shahbagh from Katabon were stuck in long tailbacks.
Sabbir Mahmud, a fourth-year BUET student, said, “We tried to avoid public suffering by demonstrating at night. But as our demands were ignored, we were compelled to occupy the streets. We will not leave until our demands are met.”
To ease the gridlock, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) set up diversions at Katabon, Motsho Bhaban, and InterContinental Hotel intersections, said Ramna Division Deputy Commissioner Masud Alam.
