Students staged fresh protests across Dhaka city on Wednesday, blocking key intersections while launching a 'Long March to the Ministry of Education' to press for the resignation of Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Hoque Milon and the postponement of HSC examinations.
The demonstrations, which severely disrupted traffic in several parts of the city, including Shahbagh, were triggered by growing anger over holding HSC and equivalent examinations amid persistent heavy rain and waterlogging, errors in question papers, and controversial remarks attributed to the education minister. A group of HSC examinees blocked the Shahbagh intersection around 6:00pm in support of their three-point demand, bringing traffic to a standstill and causing severe congestion on surrounding roads.
They withdrew their blockade at around 7:30pm after setting a deadline for the education minister to resign.
The three-point demand included postponing the remaining HSC and equivalent examinations until the flood situation returns to normal, arranging fresh examinations for candidates who missed the July 13 tests because of adverse weather, and the resignation of the education minister.
Earlier, a large group of students gathered at the Science Laboratory intersection around 2:30pm, blocking Mirpur Road before marching through the Dhaka University campus toward the Secretariat, witnesses said.
They reached the Shikkha Bhaban intersection around 4:00pm, where they encountered robust police barricades. Refusing to disperse, the protesters staged a sit-in and chanted slogans against the education administration.
They stayed at the Shikkha Bhaban intersection until around 6:00pm. After a stay of nearly two hours, the protesters left the Shikkha Bhaban intersection. Following this, the police removed the barricades from the road.
"The education minister has lost the moral authority to remain in office," said Mehedi Hasan Hamim, an HSC candidate from Government Laboratory High School.
"There are errors in almost every question paper. The ministry says students who answered the wrong questions will receive full marks, but what about those who skipped them because they were confused? Public examinations cannot be managed this way," he said.
Meanwhile, a separate protest erupted in Uttara, where students blocked the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway from around 1:30pm, causing severe traffic congestion.
According to Tareq Ahmed Beg, Deputy Commissioner of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police's Uttara Division, students began gathering in front of the BNS Center shortly after 1:00pm before blocking the highway.
The Uttara protesters were particularly angered by the minister's alleged reference to HSC candidates as "broiler chickens."
"The minister called us farm chickens. Are we commodities to be tested in such hazardous conditions? We will not accept this insult," said Ikra Islam Iti, an HSC candidate from Sahajuddin Sarker School and College.
Around 3:40pm, the Uttara protesters also launched a long march toward the Ministry of Education, travelling on foot before boarding pickup vans and other vehicles.
sajibur@gmail.comExecutive Branch
