Shutdown Suspended: Polytechnic Students Temporarily Ease Protests
The ongoing “shutdown” movement by technical students across Bangladesh has been temporarily suspended, according to a statement issued on Wednesday (May 7) by Sabbir Ahmed, Office Secretary of Karigori Chhatra Andolon Bangladesh.
The statement said that a joint meeting took place earlier in the day at Dhaka Polytechnic Institute involving students, diploma engineers, and teachers. During the meeting, teachers respectfully requested students to return to the classroom. In response to this appeal and in the interest of technical education, the student body announced a temporary relaxation of the shutdown program.
The statement further added, “We have taken this decision in the interest of students and to maintain an atmosphere of dialogue. However, we want to make it clear that if there is no effective progress in the implementation of our six-point demand, the next phase of the movement will be announced with greater force.”
Since April 29, students had enforced the shutdown across all polytechnic institutes in the country, locking the main gates of their campuses as part of the protest.
