Anti-VAT protest to continue Monday, students announce

The private university students of Bangladesh, who have been pressing the demand for withdrawal of a government-imposed 7.5 per cent VAT on tuition fees, will continue their agitations on Monday. The announcement came at the end of their daylong demonstrations on the streets on Sunday evening. Their protests choking the major streets stifled traffic in Dhaka and sparked huge troubles for commuters - much like Thursday. Demonstrations throughout Sunday at the city’s Uttara and Abdullahpur threw traffic out of gear on the street that connects the highways to Gazipur, Tangail and Mymensingh. Students of IUBAT, Uttara University and the BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology (BUFT) marched and staged sit-in in those areas. BUFT student Md Samir Saklain in the evening announced the end of their protests for the day and asked the students to gather at the same spot at 9am Monday. “The movement will continue until the matter of VAT withdrawal is resolved through discussion,” he said.
 
Vehicles stuck for many hours on that street left for their destinations via Abdullahpur after the students moved. The students have been protesting since the 2015-2016 fiscal year’s budget imposed the value-added tax (VAT) on tuition fees of the private universities, medical and engineering colleges. After last Wednesday’s clash between East West University students and police during protests at Rampura, the agitations intensified on Thursday with students of several private universities blocking key roads, thus crippling Dhaka city.
 
After the agitations started, the government said the institutions would pay the VAT and it would not be realised from the students. But students fear the institutions would eventually force the burden on them by increasing their tuition fees. Blocked by protesters, massive tailbacks in the city’s Badda, Dhanmondi, Mohkhali, Banani and Rampura marred the first working day of the week since 10am. At around 5pm, East West University students cleared Pragati Sarani at Rampura ending their blockade. However, Md Raihan, a EWU student, said they would enforce a blockade on the street again from 9am on Monday. The students have been observing a three-day strike at all private institutions across Bangladesh since Saturday. Amid their protests on Sunday, North South University (NSU) suspended all classes and examinations until Tuesday. The Independent University of Bangladesh (IUB) also went on early Eid vacation. The announcement on IUB’s website read, “All classes of the University will remain closed from September 13 to September 26 to observe the Eid-ul-Azha. Classes will resume from September 27.” After these two, BRAC University, later in the evening, also announced that it would remain closed on Monday. Both NSU and BRACU cited ‘unavoidable circumstances’ for their decision to remain closed, according to bdnews24.com.
- biplab