Jamaat-led opposition announces street demos for Saturday

A Jamaat-e-Islami-led 11-party coalition announces staging street protests tomorrow (Saturday) in the capital to press for implementation of the July Charter, having failed to get their demand through parliament.
Assistant Secretary-General of Jamaat Hamidur Rahman Azad, after a meeting of the alliance's liaison committee, disclosed the developments to the media on Thursday afternoon.
The rally is scheduled to be held at the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque.
He castigated the ruling party for "not running parliament effectively".
The opposition spokesperson raised his tone of criticism to say that the BNP-led government is pursuing a "fascist path" similar to that of Sheikh Hasina.
He claims the government is attempting to introduce constitutional amendments as a way to sidestep meaningful reforms pursuant to the July charter and referendum.
As such, says Mr Azad, the opposition parties see no alternative but to take to the streets to press home their demands.
He said a meeting of the top leaders from the 11-party alliance is also set to take place on April 7 to decide next course of action.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami secretary-general Mia Golam Parwar strongly criticized the government's decision to hold online classes three days a week in all schools and colleges across the country.
He made the protest in a statement issued Thursday (April 2), saying that the decision -- taken at a coordination meeting held at the Secretariat on March 31 to run online classes three days a week in educational institutions in Dhaka and other major cities -- is highly undesirable and "shortsighted".
"The government is imposing online classes on young students under the pretext of energy crisis, which is part of a deeper conspiracy to create a generation devoid of intellect," the Islamic party continues.
"The use of smartphones under the guise of online classes exposes young students to device addiction and moral decay," the statement maintains.
The party alerts that an online-dependent education system exposes students to multiple harms.
And "many underprivileged students are cut off from learning due to the high cost of internet access".
The party notes that the new system will affect students' regular study habits.
"Under these circumstances, implementing an online-dependent education system is tantamount to deliberately destroying students' educational lives," the statement reads.
Mia Golam Parwar also points out that the negative impact of an online-dependent education system during the COVID-19 period is reflected in the National Student Assessment 2022 report.
The report reveals that primary-level students failed to achieve grade-appropriate competencies in Bangla and mathematics.
Students from poor and remote areas lagged far behind their counterparts in relatively affluent regions.
He reminds that efforts to implement the new curriculum in 2023 without proper planning, combined with uncertainty in educational institutions during and after the July Revolution period, hindered the education system.
The party also notes that lack of reforms in the education system has also hindered recovery from the damage caused to students and the education system during the COVID-19 period.

talhabinhabib@yahoo.com