JnU Correspondent

The students of Jagannath University (JnU) staged a protest march and student rally for the 3rd consecutive day demanding cancellation of quota on Wednesday . In that time, they protested by blocking the road in Tatibazar in afternoon. As a result, traffic on the road was closed for about 1 hour.

Sohan, a 4th year student of Jagannath University, said in the movement, “We want merit-based Bangladesh. Ensure equal opportunities for all students. The quota system must be abolished immediately. We feel that the quota system is harming the merit based recruitment process.”

Mehrunnessa Himu, another student, said, "We want all the quotas, including the women's quota, to be abolished in our country. Because we women are no longer backward in terms of talent. If talent is not properly valued in the job market, it will be an ominous sign for the future. We will continue our agitation until our demands are met.”

On behalf of the protesters, Sajjad Hossain Munna said, “ The student community cannot be held to account. We proved in 2018, we want to make our claim in 2024 as well. We are reiterating our earlier 4 point claim.”

The 4-point demand of the students are - the quota system announced in 2018 should be canceled and the merit-based recruitment circular should be maintained; Subject to the circular of 18', the Commission should be constituted as soon as possible to eliminate unreasonable and discriminatory quotas in government jobs (all grades) and bring the quota to a minimum level.

In that case only backward communities can be considered according to the constitution; Quota facility cannot be used more than once in the recruitment examination of government jobs and in case of non-availability of eligible candidates in the quota, the vacant posts shall be appointed on merit basis; Effective measures should be taken to ensure a corruption-free, impartial and merit-based bureaucracy.

In the movement, the students chanted the protest slogan such as “In Sheikh Hasina's Bangla/Sheikh Mujib's Bangla, there is no place for quotas', in the Bengal of the Liberation War, there is no place for quotas', “Bury the quota system”, “Let the quota system disappear'.