DU Students' March to EC Thwarted by Police

Police have thwarted a march of a group of students from Dhaka University towards the Election Commission (EC) demanding that elections be deferred to the Dhaka City corporations billed for January 30.

The students even attempted to march towards the EC office in Agargaon as per their scheduled program but were barred by police near the Shahbagh National Museum.

They took a stand at the intersection and continued their protests until 3 pm.

They also blocked the TSC and Shahbagh intersections for two and a half hours on Wednesday (Jan 15).

Addressing a protest rally, Utpal Das, spokesperson of the protesters, issued orders for directives for demonstrations on Thursday (Jan 16) in front of Raju sculpture and asked all to protest nationwide about holding polls on the day of Saraswati puja.

Utpal, vice president of Jagannath Hall Union and also general secretary of Chhatra League’s hall unit, said that the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (DUCSU) leaders -- Md Saddam Hussain and Asif Talukder also backed to their demands.

On Tuesday (Jan 14), the High Court rejected a petition filed seeking a rescheduling of Dhaka south and north city corporation elections slated for January 30.

The order sparked protests several hours later at Shahbagh, leaving thousands of citizens trapped in massive gridlocks on the connecting roads.

After the commission announced on Dec 22 last year that polls to DSCC and DNCC would be held on Jan 30, 2020, the members of the Hindu community voiced its opposition to the decision immediately as they were set to celebrate Saraswati Puja on Jan 29-30.

Matters became more complex with the government-sanctioned school holiday schedule, which observed the Hindu religious festival on Jan 29.

Several Hindu religious groups, including the Puja Udjapon Parishad and the Hindu Buddhist Christian Unity Council of Bangladesh (BHBCUC), had urged the Election Commission to move the election day to facilitate the festival celebration for the community

The court issued the order considering the progress of the election process and the exams for the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) scheduled for Feb 2.

On Jan 6, Supreme Court lawyer Ashoke Kumar Ghosh filed the writ seeking its order to delay the polls as Saraswati Puja, one of the Hindu community's largest religious festivals, will be observed on the day across the country.

On Dec 22 last, Chief Election Commissioner KM Nurul Huda announced the election schedule for the polls to DNCC and DSCC fixing Jan 30 as the voting date.