United News of Bangladesh

The capital’s Satrastha intersection turned chaotic again on Wednesday as polytechnic students staged protests over a perceived deepening crisis in technical education and diminishing roles for engineers in the job market. Students from government and private polytechnic institutes, technical schools and colleges (TSC) and other institutions under the Bangladesh Technical Education Board blocked the busy intersection to press their six-point demand. The blockade caused severe traffic congestion in Satrastha and surrounding areas, leaving office-goers and commuters stranded. Many were seen walking to their destinations as vehicles inched forward. The students alleged that an influential group is deliberately undermining technical education to weaken the polytechnic system and restrict access to the engineering profession. They also accused authorities of discriminating against polytechnic graduates in employment and higher education opportunities. Polytechnic students call nationwide rail blockade Thursday to press 6-point demands “A powerful syndicate has captured the technical education system. They are closing our paths. We will not tolerate this injustice anymore,” said one protester, adding that demonstrations would continue until their demands are met. Tejgaon Industrial Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Aslam Hossain said the students occupied Satrastha around 10:30am, reiterating the same demands raised in their previous protests. “Police are closely monitoring the situation to maintain law and order,” he added. The six demands are giving due recognition to technical education, ensuring equal opportunities for polytechnic graduates in the engineering profession, stopping recruitment barriers through syndicates, eliminating discrimination in higher education, extending government facilities to private polytechnic students, and integrating technical education as a key pillar of the national development policy. At the time of filing this report, students were still demonstrating peacefully at the intersection, although vehicular movement remained suspended, bringing the area to a standstill.

Prime Minister’s ICT affairs adviser Sajeeb wazed Joy has said the seed of the ultimate freedom of Bengalis was sown through the six-point demand in 1966, a milestone in the nation's long struggle towards liberation. The six-point charter, raised by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, was the foundation pillar of the Bengali nation's movement for their rights, he said in Facebook post from his verified account on Tuesday. Also read: 6-points anniversary: Bangladesh to keep advancing with dignity, says PM “It was the instrument of freedom for Bengalis. A victim of prolonged persecution, injustice, and indiscrimination, the nation got a new direction through the six-point movement,” he wrote in his Facebook post that accompanied a web link of an article titled “Six-Point Demands: Roadmap for Bangladesh’s Emancipation.” On March 18, 1966, a booklet, titled ‘The demand for our existence: six-point initiative', attributed to Bangabandhu, was circulated in a conference of the Awami League council, Joy wrote. Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman toured districts to drum up support for the initiative. On June 7, 1966, a countrywide strike was enforced to realize the six-point movement. Police and EPR fired bullets and beat protesters indiscriminately. Also read:President Sayem's life was under threat until he signed: Joy Eleven Bengalis, including Monu Mia, Shafique, and Shamsul, in Tongi, Dhaka, and Narayanganj embraced martyrdom, a sacrifice compelling the nation to observe the day as the 'Six-Point Day'. Alarmed at the successful strike of June 7, military dictator Ayub Khan hatched another conspiracy to hang Bangabandhu by implicating him in the Agartala conspiracy case. But, the historic 1969-mass uprising foiled all these schemes, according to Joy’s Facebook post. He encouraged his followers on Facebook to read the entire article to equip themselves with the knowledge of the six-point movement - from its inception to execution and pass the undistorted history to the young generation.