Engineering students clash with police in Shahbagh; tear gas fired

Engineering students clashed with police on Wednesday during a “Long March to Dhaka” protest. The students were marching from Shahbagh towards the Chief Advisor’s residence near Jamuna when police blocked their path at a barricade in front of Hotel InterContinental.

When the students attempted to break the barricade around 1:45 pm, police dispersed the crowd using tear gas and sound grenades.

Masud Alam, Deputy Commissioner of Ramna Division Police, said the police acted to control the situation as students tried to advance.

The protest, now in its second day, saw students demanding fulfillment of their three-point charter. They warned of laying siege to the Secretariat if their demands were not met by 1 pm.

Their slogans included calls for “Merit over quota” and “End the illegal diploma quota.”

The students’ demands are:

Diploma engineers should not use the title ‘Engineer’ before their names.

Diploma engineers should not be promoted to the 9th grade.

Only graduate engineers should be eligible for 10th-grade jobs.