Polytechnic Protestors Pivot to Railway Blockade

As part of their ongoing movement to press home a six-point demand, students from government and private polytechnic institutes across the country have announced a nationwide railway blockade. Simultaneously, they have withdrawn their road blockade for the day.

The announcement came on Wednesday evening at the Satrasta intersection in Tejgaon, Dhaka. Jubayer Patwary, a representative of the Technical Students’ Movement, made the declaration.

He stated, “We held a meeting with the Director General of the Directorate of Technical Education, Shoaib Ahmad Khan, the Principal of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, Md. Mostafizur Rahman, and other concerned officials. However, the meeting ended without consensus. Our demands were not accepted in writing. Therefore, as part of our movement, we are declaring a railway blockade on Thursday.”

Jubayer Patwary added, “The authorities have failed to implement our logical demands. If it takes an entire day for the government to transfer just one principal, how can we trust that the authorities will fulfill our broader demands? And if that’s the case, how can technical students contribute to the development of the country?”

He further said, “We want to make it clear to the government that until our demands are met, we are launching a railway blockade across Bangladesh, including Dhaka. This marks the beginning of our non-cooperation movement.”

He continued, “If you deny or belittle the role of students in reforming the country and the nation, then national development will never be possible.”

During his speech, he also announced the temporary suspension of the road blockade for the day and urged fellow students to allow traffic to resume.

Another protester, Mashfi Rahman, said, “Considering public suffering, today’s road blockade has been withdrawn. The timing of tomorrow’s railway blockade will be announced via the Facebook page of the Technical Students’ Movement.”

He also called upon polytechnic students across the country to make the upcoming program a success.