Online Desk  :   Students of seven colleges affiliated with the University of Dhaka (DU) blocked the Science Lab intersection for the second consecutive day on Wednesday, demanding the constitution of a university dedicated to the service of the seven colleges only. They lifted the nearly five-hour blockade at 5pm, saying the next moves would be announced at a press conference. Some student protesters signalled an intent to begin a mass hunger strike from Sunday, but organisers did not confirm the move.

Ironically, on the same day, students of Titumir college, one of the seven colleges subsumed under DU in 2017, brought out a separate rally in front of the college entrance at Mohakhali, claiming they had no link with the Science Lab blockade and enforcing their own two-hour blockade during 11am-1pm. The Titumir college students demanded the college be upgraded to a university – thereby demanding a new university only for themselves. The Titumir college students taking part in the Science Lab demonstrations are doing so only to fulfill “personal needs,” and do not represent the general students of the college, the organisers of the Mohakhali blockade said.

The apparently contradictory protests led to intense traffic gridlock in key areas of the capital including Shahbagh, Karwan Bazar, Mohakhali and Science Lab. Education Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud urged all the college students to stop demonstrations and go back to their classrooms, assuring their demands would be dealt with in due time as new universities cannot be founded simply through “instant orders”. The interim government is working to restore order in the education sector after years of mismanagement, and against this backdrop, multiple street demonstrations within just over two months are complicating efforts, Wahinduddin Mahmud said in a statement addressing the protesting students. Many of the demands are unfair, and at times, even contradictory, the adviser noted.

The government needs at least some time to resolve the problems created by the ousted Awami League regime, Wahiduddin said adding the issues are very difficult to work on. As a former teacher he is sympathetic to the students’ fair demands, he noted. A specialists’ committee has already been formed regarding the formation of a stand-alone university for seven colleges, but the committee requires seven weeks to submit a report. Multiple discussions with student representatives have already been held, Wahiduddin added.

Making matters worse, Titumir college students claimed they were not consulted with when the committee was formed and gave the government three days to meet their demand. If their demand is not met by Sunday, they would stage a two-hour “Barasat Barricade to Mohakhali” demonstration from 11am Sunday, they threatened.