Long March to Secretariat

Students protesting for the resignation of Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon vacated Shahbagh intersection in the capital on Wednesday evening after setting a deadline for the minister to step down, ending a roughly ninety-minute blockade of one of Dhaka’s busiest junctions.

The students occupied Shahbagh from around 6:00pm, blocking all traffic through the intersection as they protested the minister’s resignation along with a set of other demands. They called off the day’s programme around 7:30pm and cleared the road.

Announcing the pause on behalf of the protesters, Rahat Ahmed, a student of Dhanmondi Ideal College, told reporters that the blockade was causing hardship for the public and that they did not wish to prolong people’s suffering. “Our demand is just one — the education minister must resign.

He must resign by 10:00 on Wednesday night. If not, we will carry out a ‘long march to the Secretariat’ from Science Laboratory intersection at 10:00am today, Thursday,” he said.

Following the announcement, students cleared the road and vehicle movement resumed through Shahbagh.

Anger over exam conditions and minister’s remarks
The unrest stems from student anger over the HSC examinations being held amid heavy rain and waterlogging, as well as errors in the physics question paper and complaints over the quality of questions set.

Students staged protests, blockades and rallies across Dhaka, Chattogram and other parts of the country through the day on Tuesday. A group of students in Dhaka wrapped up Tuesday’s protest around 9:45pm by announcing a fresh programme: if Wednesday’s scheduled exam was not postponed, they would launch a “long march to the education ministry” from 3:00pm.

True to that announcement, a group of students blocked Science Laboratory intersection around 2:30pm on Wednesday after finishing their exam, halting traffic at the junction.

After holding the position for some time, they set off from Science Laboratory intersection toward the Secretariat as part of the “long march to the education ministry” programme. They reached the Education Bhaban around 4:00pm, where they were met by a police barricade. They then held their position there, chanting slogans demanding the education minister’s resignation.

One protester outside Education Bhaban, identifying himself as Mehedi Hasan Hamim, an HSC candidate from Government Laboratory School in the capital, said the education minister had lost the moral authority to remain in office, alleging that errors were appearing in every question paper.

“The minister said students who answered the wrong question would get full marks — but what about those who didn’t answer it at all? An exam cannot be conducted this way. We want his resignation,” he said.

After holding their position for about ninety minutes, the students moved toward Shahbagh around 5:30pm, occupying the intersection by 6:00pm and halting all traffic through it.

Rohan Hasnat Jihad, a humanities student at Mirpur Bangla School and College, who joined the Shahbagh sit-in, said: “We have just one demand now — the education minister’s resignation. A minister who has shown such disregard for students’ lives must resign.”

Protests spread to Uttara and beyond Dhaka
Separately, around 1:30pm on Wednesday, another group of students blockaded the road in front of the BNS Centre in Uttara, halting traffic in both directions and causing a long tailback. Protesters chanted slogans over a three-point demand that includes the education minister’s resignation.

Ikra Islam, who identified herself as an HSC candidate from Shahajuddin Sarkar School and College and took part in the Uttara blockade, told Prothom Alo: “The education minister called us farm chickens. Are we chickens? That is why we want him to resign.”

Another protester, Md. Mehedi Hasan, an HSC candidate from Cambrian College, told Prothom Alo: “Our movement will continue.”

Around 3:45pm, the Uttara protesters began their own “long march to the education ministry,” walking part of the way before boarding pick-up trucks and other vehicles to continue toward Education Bhaban.
Second day of demonstrations nationwide
Wednesday marked the second consecutive day of protests demanding Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milon’s resignation, with demonstrations held in Barishal, Kushtia, Rangpur and Sirajganj at midday. The Dhaka-Barishal highway was blocked for ten minutes during the protests.

On Tuesday, students had protested in 13 districts, including Dhaka and Chattogram, over the HSC exams being held amid continuous rain and waterlogging and over what they called derogatory remarks made about students.

Highways were blocked in Dhaka, Barishal and Tangail, while education boards were laid siege to in Chattogram and Rajshahi.

Students allege that Monday’s HSC exam went ahead despite adverse weather, preventing many from sitting for it. Their demands are that examinations be suspended until the disruptive weather subsides, that students unable to sit for the exam be given another opportunity, and that the education minister resign if he does not apologise for his remarks about students.