Commuters suffer for gridlock on highway

Shahzadpur Correspondent:

Rabindra University teachers, students and officials have continued their movement demanding the speedy approval and full implementation of the DPP for the construction of a permanent campus.

On Tuesday (July 29), students attended at their classes on the Pabna-Dhaka highway instead of class rooms for the second day from 10:00am. They have been holding various programmes through continuous movement for 4 days to press home their demand.

In addition to this exceptional activity, teachers and employees’ brought out protest processions and formed human chains like previous days. Due to their ongoing movements, a large number of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the highway causing immense sufferings to the commuters.

During the protest and human chain, Rabindra University Acting Proctor Nazrul Islam, Music Department Chairman Yat Singh Shuvo, Social Science Department Lecturer Sabuj Mondal and Bengali Department Assistant Professor Javed Iqbal among others spoke on the occasion.

The speakers said, “Even after nine years, Rabindra University has not got a permanent campus. Although academic and administrative activities are going on in a rented building, students are not getting the benefits of the university. Although, a project proposal worth Tk 519 crore has been submitted by the Ministry of Education, ECNEC has not yet been approved it. Various universities are receiving government support in various ways, but Rabindra University is being deprived of the government supports for unknown reasons, they claimed.

The speakers said, “It is not clear why we are being deprived. Though, our demand is logical, but the government’s high-ups are not paying heeds in this regard. Such peculiar attitude of the government has created anger among the civil society members along with students and teachers in Shahzadpur.

The demonstrators threatened that, they would continue the movement until their demands are met and would hold a protest programme on the highway on Wednesday (July 30) afternoon.