Vehicular movement remained suspended on roads adjacent to Shahbagh since Saturday morning as the outsourcing workers from different government institutions blocked the intersection demanding nationalisation of their jobs. Witnesses said the workers of different companies gathered at Shahbagh intersection around 10 am and put up barricades there, halting traffic movement. Many bus passengers were seen getting down from the buses and trying to reach their destinations on foot. JMBF condemns ‘police crackdown’ on private college teachers   

For the third consecutive day, students blocked Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection around 11:45 am today (July 04, 2024), protesting the High Court’s decision to reinstate the quota system in government jobs. Around 11 am, students from various halls of Dhaka University began gathering in front of the Central Library. They then marched through the campus, culminating in a massive rally at Shahbagh intersection. Protest against quota: Students block Shahbagh for 2nd day Some students reported that as they were leaving their halls to join the rally, activists from the Chhatra League at Masterda Surja Sen Hall locked the gate to prevent them from participating. However, the main procession proceeded to Surja Sen Hall, broke the lock, and freed the students to join the protest. Earlier, on Tuesday and Wednesday, the protesters had blocked major highways and intersections in the capital, demanding the cancellation of the quota system. Students block Dhaka’s Shahbagh intersection in protest against quota system reinstatement During the rally, protesters declared their determination, saying, if needed, they will shed blood to realize their demand. Earlier today, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court upheld the High Court order declaring the cancellation of the freedom fighter quota in government jobs as “illegal.”

A passenger bus caught fire in the capital's Shahbagh area on Saturday night. The fire broke out at around 11:25 pm, said Mustazirur Rahman, officer-in-charge (OC) of Shahbagh Police Station. On information, a firefighting unit rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire. The fire might have originated from a technical fault, added the OC. Police are investigating the matter, he said. However, no causalities were reported in the fire.

Dhaka's ambitious metro rail project reached a significant milestone with the opening of the Karwan Bazar and Shahbagh metro rail stations. This achievement marks the completion of all 16 stations along the Dhaka Metro Rail route, extending from Uttara North to Motijheel. Following the commencement of the Bijoy Sarani and Dhaka University stations on December 13, only the Karwan Bazar and Shahbagh stations were pending activation. With their launch, Dhaka residents can now enjoy full access to the metro rail network, significantly easing urban transportation. Also read: New Metro Rail Station at Dhaka University: A milestone in student connectivity Commuters, particularly office-goers, have warmly welcomed the operation of these crucial stations in the heart of the capital. Many have expressed their satisfaction and are eagerly anticipating an expanded schedule on the Agargaon-Motijheel route. "The metro rail has transformed our daily commute, and the new stations are a much-needed addition," shared a business trader from Gazipur’s Tongi who has to travel at least twice a week to Old Dhaka’s Bakshi Bazar, a distance of almost 24 kilometres.

Members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) said on Friday that they arrested 31 members of an organised snatching gang from several areas of the capital on  Thursday night. A team of the battalion led by its Commandant Lieutenant Colonel Arif Mohiuddin Ahmed conducted  drives in the capital’s Matijhel, Shahbagh, Sabujbagh, Paltan,  Jatrabari and Bangshal on Thursday night and arrested the snatchers. Read more: RAB: 26 held for extortion and snatching in the city Three anti-cutters, 14 blades, two knives, four switch gears, 37 mobile phone sets, some weapons used in snatching and Tk 27,073 in cash were recovered from the arrestees during the drives, a Rab press release said.

Different student organisations including left leaning Bangladesh Students’ Federation staged rallies protesting the sudden rise in fuel prices in front of National Museum at Shahbagh on Saturday. BSF's procession started from in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh which rounded via Kantaban and ended in front of Bangladesh Students’ Federation’s central office in front of Hatitpul Bazar. Meanwhile, the progressive student alliance held a separate protest rally. Besides, some students staged a demonstration for one hour at Shahbagh intersection after failing to block the transports. The government on Friday night raised prices of diesel by Tk 34 per litre, octane by Tk 46 per litre and petrol by Tk 44 per litre. "Common people are already in hardship to cope with the rise of living cost. Government's looting of Public property and mismanagement led people toward this suffering,” the protesters said.  Read: Hamid looking to send load shedding back to museum by August-end "The illegal fascist government is increasing the price of fuel oil without maintaining any policy. Fuel is a strategic product which will affect the prices of electricity, agricultural products, bus fares and other services," BSF General Secretary Soikot Ali said. Moshiur Rahman, President of BSF, held the government's import policy responsible for the fuel crisis and said, "They adopted a short term policy to import for quick rental power plants instead of inventing its own gas fields and domestic resources. Price hike of the fuel oils will lead to increased bus fares and hamper food productions.” Faiz Ullah, President of Bangladesh Students Union, said,  "The government has been looting people’s pockets and joshing with the people in the name of mega projects without keeping any specific account of import and export." "Though the country has fallen in a bad state, the leaders of Awami League are getting richer. Those who could not eat fifteen years ago, have become owners of crores of taka by getting involved with the politics of Awami League," he added.

Multiple organisations staged protest rallies in front of National Museum at Shahbagh protesting communal attack on Hindu people of Narail around 4 pm Monday.Among the organisations were Jago Hindu Parishad, Bangladesh Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, Sammilito Samajik Andolon, Samajik Protirodh Committee. Besides, organisations like Narimukti Shangshad, Bangladesh Progoti Songho, Trade Union centre, Gonoshkhorota Ovizan, Action Aid Bangladesh, etc, came together under the banner of Shamajik Protirodh Committee.Fawzia Moslem, president of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad  headed the programme of Samajik Protirodh committee and  said t, "Our golden Bangladesh is floating in the tide of development, but the incident of Narail has shown that  we are falling as humans." Read: 4 killed in Habiganj road accident She said, "Not only the Narail incident, the incident in Ramu in 2012 has not been tried yet.This culture of injustice has become a curse for us.  The government and law enforcement agencies have failed completely to stop the violence." Prof. Robayet Ferdaus, from  Sammilito Samajik Andolon said, "The Bangladesh that we are seeing now is not the Bangladesh we know. Our country is going to become completely communal. We have to strongly prevent those malicious elements from spreading their venoms to keep it safe."They also demanded five points regarding the victims and the conspirators of the Narail attack.The demands are to form a proper probe committee to reveal the conspiracy against Hindu people, to complete all the  judicial process of this attack within next three months, to provide proper amends to the victims, to prohibit the use of religion in the name of politics and to form minority commission and protection law for the safety of the minorities of the country.  

A motorcyclist died after being hit by a concrete mixer truck in the capital's Shahbagh area Wednesday night. The accident occurred at 10:15pm on Abdul Gani Road in front of Shikkha Bhaban and the critically injured Khademul Islam Sabuj, 30, was rushed to the emergency unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). Read:Motorcyclist killed being hit by truck in city He was declared dead at 10:45pm, Shahbagh Police Station Sub-Inspector Kamal Uddin Munshi, who brought Sabuj to the hospital, said. His cousin Jashim said, "Sabuj was returning home on a motorcycle as a truck hit him in front of Shikkha Bhaban." Sabuj, from Tongibari upazila of Munshiganj, used to live in Mirpur, Dhaka.

Police on Monday foiled an attempt of eight left-leaning student organisations to block Shahbagh intersection to press home their various demands, including half fare on public transport for students. Their other demands include government steps to control the abnormal price hike of daily essentials and reduce fuel prices. The leaders and activists of the left-leaning organizations brought out a procession from Dhaka University’s TSC area at noon, said Moudud Hawladar, officer-in-charge of Shahbagh Police Station. Also read: Students block roads again demanding road safety, half fare When their procession got close to the National Museum, police obstructed them, leading to a scuffle between the students and police. Police later dispersed the protesters.

Law enforcers barred several hundred protesters as they reached the Sakura Restaurant in Paribagh, opposite Minto Road, in their bid to march to the Prime Minister's Office (PMO) to protest writer Mushtaq Ahmed's death and demanding repeal of the Digital Security Act.