BNP backs student teacher movements

Staff Reporter :

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) has expressed moral support for the ongoing student protests against the quota system in government jobs and the university teachers’ and officials’ protest against the universal pension scheme, deeming both movements “just” and “logical.”

In a press conference held at the BNP Chairperson’s political office in Gulshan on Saturday, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir disclosed the party’s stance.

He revealed that an emergency meeting of the BNP’s standing committee on Thursday night resulted in the decision to morally support these distinct yet significant movements.

Fakhrul argued that quotas for genuine freedom fighters, women, and the physically disabled in government jobs could be justified, but they should be limited to 5 to 10 percent instead of the current 56 percent. He asserted that the quota system does not facilitate the development of merit and accused the current government of using the judiciary to suppress legitimate public demands, characterising it as an old and vile tactic of weaponizing the courts against the people’s rights.

Regarding the teachers’ protest against the pension scheme withdrawal, Fakhrul noted the sensitivity of the issue, stating that teachers have no other source of income and depend solely on their salaries.

He called for the immediate withdrawal of the pension scheme, labelling it as another avenue for the corrupt actions of a bankrupt government. Fakhrul argued that, due to the dire economic situation, the government is unjustly attempting to take pension funds from teachers and other sectors.