Students from Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet defied police attempts to block their protest march. As of 1 PM today, they were marching from Subid Bazar towards Court Point in the city.
Earlier, around 11 AM, the students gathered at the university’s main gate as part of the pre-announced ‘March for Justice’ program. Initially, police prevented them from standing in front of the gate on the Sylhet-Sunamganj highway, so the students stood under a nearby pedestrian bridge and chanted slogans. After some time, they managed to position themselves at the main gate, despite the police obstruction.
Around 11:45 AM, one of the anti-discrimination student movement coordinators, Faisal Hossain, told journalists, “This is not a police university. We ask the police to cooperate with us.” He then announced a protest in front of the main gate and said that the students would march towards Court Point in Sylhet’s Bandar Bazar area as part of the ‘March for Justice.’
At 1 PM, the students began marching, but police blocked them in the Subid Bazar area. After a 15-minute confrontation, the students broke through the police barricade and continued towards Court Point. More than a thousand students from various nearby institutions joined the Shahjalal University students in the long march. The students carried placards with various slogans, including “Down with dictatorship,” “Who will account for the corpses, which quota will they be buried in,” and “Take your quota, give me back my brother.”
