Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) exam candidates have returned to protest outside parliament, nearly two hours after police charged batons and dispersed them.
Around 8:15pm, they regrouped on Manik Mia Avenue, blocking traffic again before extending the blockade to the Khamarbari-Asad Gate road, halting traffic.
A member of the student delegation from Tejgaon Women’s College claimed a group of protesters had been allowed inside parliament but failed to meet any responsible official.
“We were asked to send representatives. As soon as they entered parliament, police charged batons on those outside.
“We waited for two hours but received no decision. They would not even clarify whether Wednesday’s examination would go ahead. We were taken inside to speak to officials, but no one met us.”
The students had first blockaded Manik Mia Avenue around 6pm before police cleared the road at about 6:30pm.
Amid the protests, Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon held an emergency meeting with Prime Minister Tarique Rahman at parliament around 5:30pm.
The controversy stemmed from an audio clip circulating widely on social media in which a man, alleged by protesting students to be Milon, appeared to liken HSC candidates to “farm chickens”.
The remark triggered nationwide student protests on Tuesday, with demonstrators demanding the minister’s resignation and shouting slogans mocking the comparison.
Addressing parliament later in the day, Milon expressed regret and announced that the Physics First Paper, Accounting and Logic exams would be retaken for candidates affected by the severe weather.
