Polytechnic Protest Paralyses Campuses Nationwide
As part of a shutdown program pressing six demands, students of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute locked classrooms and campus gates on Tuesday, April 29. The protest began around 11:30 a.m. and spread across various gates of the campus. According to the student platform Karigori Chhatra Andolon (Technical Students' Movement), similar programs were held at several other institutions across the country including those in Chapainawabganj, Kushtia, Jhenaidah, Lakshmipur, Rajshahi, and Chattogram, rendering academic activities at polytechnic institutes across Bangladesh virtually suspended.
The students’ core demands include the cancellation of the 30% quota allocated to Craft Instructors for promotion to Junior Instructor positions, annulment of court rulings favoring such promotions, change of designation for Craft Instructors, dismissal of individuals involved in related legal cases, revocation of the 2021 recruitment of Craft Instructors, and immediate amendment of the controversial recruitment policy.
Following the student unrest, Principal of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, Md. Mostafizur Rahman Khan, was removed and attached to the Directorate of Technical Education. In his place, Vice Principal Shahela Parveen was given additional charge. She will oversee institutional management, including financial authority.
After locking down Dhaka Polytechnic Institute, protest leader Mashfiq Islam Dewan briefed the press at the institution’s Medha Shaheed Chattar. He said, “Although the Technical and Madrasah Education Division under the Ministry of Education formed a committee to outline the implementation of our demands, only one meeting has been held so far. We are seeing no progress, and we have received no information regarding how or when our demands will be implemented. The committee is not working promptly. In response, we are holding synchronized shutdowns across all polytechnic institutes in Bangladesh. Until a clear implementation plan is formulated, all administrative and academic buildings will remain locked, and campus activities will remain suspended.”
Previously, as part of their movement, students blocked roads, highways, and railway lines in various parts of the country. Their “Rail Blockade” program drew national attention to their demands. At a grand rally on April 20 near Dhaka Mohila Polytechnic Institute in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, protestors issued a 48-hour ultimatum, warning of a “Long March to Dhaka” if demands were unmet. The movement was temporarily paused on April 22.
Earlier, on April 16, students blockaded roads at Tejgaon’s Satrasta intersection from morning until evening. The following night, April 17, saw a torch procession, and on April 18, students marched in Dhaka wearing symbolic funeral shrouds.
Firm in their stance and following a sustained series of demonstrations, the technical students appear poised to exert final pressure for the realization of their demands. Protesters have affirmed that the movement will continue until all demands are met.
