Students of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) and Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (RUET) staged demonstrations on Wednesday, blocking major roads in their respective cities.
The protests were held both to press home a set of demands regarding the status of diploma engineers and to protest alleged police attacks on students from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) and other universities during demonstrations in Dhaka earlier in the day.
In Chattogram, CUET students blocked the Gate No 2 intersection around 4:30pm, chanting slogans that disrupted vehicular movement. Students from the Raozan campus also joined the demonstration.
Their three-point demand includes barring diploma engineers from using the title "engineer," stopping their promotions through quotas to ninth-grade positions, and holding recruitment examinations for tenth-grade jobs for both diploma and BSc degree holders.
Aminul Islam, a student of the Water Resources Engineering department at CUET, said, "We have long been carrying out our movement with logical demands. Instead of addressing them, the police attacked my brothers, standing on students' blood. This is outrageous, and we strongly condemn it."
Panchlaish Model Police Station Officer-In-Charge Mohammad Solaiman said, "CUET students staged their protest by blocking the road. Police were present at the scene to prevent any untoward incident. They blocked the road for about two hours before leaving."
In Rajshahi, RUET students gathered at Talaimari intersection around 3:30pm, staging a road blockade that brought traffic to a halt on the Rajshahi-Natore-Bhodra highway.
They voiced the same three demands as CUET while also protesting the police action — including sound grenades, tear gas, and baton charges — against engineering students in Dhaka.
Around 6:30pm, the students withdrew their blockade.
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Fahim Ahmed Habib, a fourth-year student of Chemical Engineering at Ruet, said, "Our three-point demands remain as they are. In addition, we now demand justice for the attackers. If fresh programmes are announced from Dhaka, we will return to the streets again."
The demonstrators warned that their movement would continue until authorities meet their demands and ensure justice for the attacks on students.
