Titumir College students continue road blockade, relax ‘Blockade to North City’

Students of Government Titumir College have blocked the road in front of their campus in the capital’s Mohakhali for the four consecutive days, demanding the institution be upgraded to a university.

The blockade began at 11:50 am on Sunday, halting traffic on both sides of the road.

Several students in front of the college are continuing their hunger strike, naming the protest programme ‘Barasat Barricade,’ which includes both road and railway blockades.

Titumir College students continue road blockade, relax ‘Blockade to North City’ — Photo: Muktadir Mokto

However, considering the final prayer of the Bishwa Ijtema, the students have decided to relax the ‘Blockade to North City’ programme.

Ali Ahmed, a frontline protester from the 2018-19 academic session, announced the decision at a press conference in front of the campus at 12:00 pm.

Earlier on Thursday, several students of Titumir College launched a hunger strike and road blockade in front of the campus gate, protesting from 11:30 am to 4:00 pm. The road blockade continued on Friday as well. On Staurday, students staged the blockade for the third consecutive day, withdrawing from the road around 10:30 pm.

Amid the ongoing protest, the Ministry of Education issued a statement on Saturday, saying that a special committee is working on forming a separate university comprising seven government colleges in Dhaka, with Titumir College being given special consideration.

“Under these circumstances, setting a deadline for the government to upgrade Titumir College to a university and continuing protests is not logical,” the statement added.