In the ongoing protest demanding the reinstatement of cancelled appointments for 6,531 government primary school assistant teachers in the Dhaka and Chattogram divisions, police used water cannons to disperse the demonstrators at Shahbagh on Thursday afternoon, the eighth day of their protest.
The protest, which began at noon, saw teachers sitting on the roads at Science Lab, blocking traffic towards the Fishery Building. Around 1:30 PM, nearly 100 teachers, who had passed the recruitment exams, took to the streets demanding their jobs be reinstated. Law enforcement was also present at the scene.
Around 2:30 PM, police attempted to remove the protestors from Shahbagh Square, spraying water from water cannons. The protestors were eventually forced to move and relocated to the area in front of the National Museum by 2:45 PM. Earlier in the day, several protestors were seen participating in the demonstration wearing burial shrouds.
Rasheda Begum, one of the protestors, expressed her frustration, stating, “This government gave us jobs and then took them away. That’s why we are on the streets. If we don’t get our jobs back, we will die on the streets with our children.”
This protest follows the February 6 ruling by the High Court, which annulled the government’s decision to appoint 6,531 candidates to assistant teacher positions in Dhaka and Chattogram divisions. On November 19, the High Court had previously suspended the appointments, citing that they violated the quota system.
Liberty News national correspondent states that the recruitment process for the positions had been initially delayed by a High Court order on May 28, which stayed the oral exams for six months. However, the Appellate Division lifted the stay, allowing the oral exams to proceed. The court also ordered an investigation into allegations of question paper leaks related to the written exam for the positions.
LND/BAIZID
