Dhaka Central University issue: Students paralyse Dhaka demanding ordinance
Staff Reporter :
Protesting students on Wednesday brought traffic to a standstill across major parts of the capital after blocking the Science Lab, Technical and Tantibazar intersections, intensifying their movement for the promulgation of an ordinance to establish the proposed Dhaka Central University.
The protests were organised at the call of the platform “Saat College Biswabidyaloy Rupantor Andolon,” which has been spearheading the campaign to transform seven large Dhaka colleges into a single, autonomous university.
According to witnesses and traffic police, the Tantibazar intersection was the first to be blocked at around 11:45 am, followed by the Technical intersection at approximately 12:30 pm. By about 1:00 pm, students had also occupied the Science Lab intersection, one of the busiest points in the city.
The coordinated blockades completely halted vehicular movement on several adjoining roads, triggering severe congestion and long tailbacks in surrounding neighbourhoods.
Students sitting on the roads were seen chanting slogans in favour of their one-point demand: immediate approval of the updated draft of the Dhaka Central University ordinance and its formal promulgation by the president.
The protest was announced a day earlier. In a press release issued on Tuesday, the platform said it would blockade the three intersections on Wednesday to press home its demand ahead of a scheduled meeting of the interim government’s advisory council on January 15.
“The sole demand is that the Dhaka Central University Act 2025 be approved at the advisory council meeting and that the final ordinance be promulgated without delay,” the statement said, warning that protest programmes would continue if the demand is not met within the stipulated timeframe.
The movement traces its roots to September last year, when the draft of the Dhaka Central University Act 2025 was published on the website of the Secondary and Higher Education Division on September 24.
The draft, aimed at integrating seven colleges under a new university framework, immediately sparked wide debate, both in favour of and against the proposal.
In response to the controversy, the education ministry held a series of consultation meetings with stakeholders and later revised the draft incorporating feedback, according to the students’ platform.
The agitation has since escalated in phases. Most recently, from December 7 to 8, students staged a continuous sit-in programme towards Shikkha Bhaban, the Education Building. During that demonstration, ministry officials met student representatives and assured them that all formal processes would be completed by December and that the ordinance would be issued in early January.
On Wednesday, the platform said it had learned from what it described as a “reliable source” that a meeting of the interim government’s advisory council would be held on January 15. The students are now pinning their hopes on that meeting, demanding that the revised draft be placed for approval and that the long-promised ordinance finally be enacted.
By late afternoon, the blockades were still in place, with commuters continuing to suffer heavy delays as police struggled to divert traffic through already crowded alternative routes.
Whether the advisory council’s meeting on Thursday will meet the protesters’ expectations now appears set to determine the next phase of a movement that is increasingly disrupting daily life in the capital.