Dhaka, April 09 – The BNP has extended its support to the ongoing movement of students and job-seekers for quota reform in public service.The livelihood of about four crore people of the country is involved with the movement for quota reform. The BNP policymaking body is concerned with the issue, said BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference at party central office on Monday.
He said if the BNP returns to power, they would cancel the quota except those kept for women, freedom fighters’ children, women and ethnic minority.
Mirza Alamgir mentioned that the BNP has mentioned the quota issue in its vision 2030 announced last year as the party believes that there is no alternative to talented people to build the nation.
He strongly protested and condemned the police attack without any provocation on agitated students and jobseekers on Sunday who are carrying out movement for quota reform and demanded unconditional release of those demonstrators who were arrested and wish early recovery those injured in police attack.
“We strongly condemn and protest the barbaric and unprovoked attack by police and armed Chhatra League cadres on the students and job-seekers who were demonstrating to realise their justified demand,” he said.
The BNP leader said the students and job-seekers are carrying out movement for realising ‘logical demand’.
He alleged that the police carried out the attack on peaceful demonstrations without any provocation only to suppress the movement of hundreds of students and job-seekers.
The students and job-seekers started the movement on February 17 to press for their five-point demand that include introduction of unified age limit in government jobs, review of quota system in government recruitment process, including Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) examination, stopping taking benefit by job-seekers under the same quota, filling vacant posts from merit list if the candidates from quota are not found and fixation of 10 percent quota instead of existing 56 percent.
Shahbagh and the Dhaka University areas yesterday turned into a battle field early Monday as a fresh protest started again on Sunday.
BNP standing committee member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Goyeshawar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moin Khan, Nazrul Islam Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, vice chairmen Begum Selima Rahman, Shamsuzzaman Dudu and senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, among others, were present at the press conference. – Staff Reporter
