JnU students to hold mass rally at Shaheed Minar on March 16

The agitating Jagannath University (JnU) students and teachers announced Thursday another fresh movement - a mass gathering at the Central Shaheed Minar on March 16 demanding immediate recovery of the occupied halls.

The demonstrating students under the banner of the 'Hall Uddhar Sangram Committee' announced the new programme at a protest demonstration in front of the university's main entrance on the day.

Early in the morning, the students hanged a banner in front of the Shaheed Ziaur Rahman High School that depicted 'Bazlur Rahman Hall'. Later on local people set ablaze the banner.

As their prescheduled protest programme, hundreds of the agitating students gathered on the university campus at about 11:00am and held their demonstration.

At the same time, the protesting teachers formed a human chain on the university campus to realise their demand for recovery of the occupied dormitories immediately.

Mofizul Islam, a student and also joint general secretary of the Bangladesh Chhatra League said when the protesting students started moving towards the occupied hall located at Mogaltoli in the old city, police put barricade there, later the representatives of the students went to the school and hanged the banner.

He said the authorities of the Dhaka City Corporation built the school on the land of the university's hall in 2006.

Meanwhile, the protesting students observed their sit-in programme for consecutive third days in front of the Bangladesh Bank branch situated on the university campus.  

The university students have been continuing their protest in and outside the university campus since February 12, 2014.