Mymensingh Engineering College students leave road after 5.5 hours

Mymensingh Engineering College students blocked the road on Wednesday (July 9) demanding the formation of Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT). After a 5.5-hour long blockade, they left the road at 3.30 pm on the assurance of the district administration. From 10 am, the students gathered at the Rahmatpur Bypass intersection in the city and blocked the road by erecting bamboo barricades. As a result, severe traffic jams were created on the Mymensingh-Tangail, Mymensingh-Jamalpur and Dhaka-bound Digharkanda Bypass roads. The students said that they have been protesting for one and a half months. The administration did not pay any attention to them even after they demanded the formation of BIT to improve the quality of engineering education in the country by canceling the affiliation of Dhaka University. As a result, they were forced to take to the road blockade. During the blockade, the police, Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer (UNO) and the college principal tried to convince the students, but they remained adamant. Later, Deputy Commissioner Mufidul Alam and the Superintendent of Police came to the spot and spoke to the students. The Deputy Commissioner promised to convey the students’ demands to the Education Advisor and assured them of a discussion by next Monday. If the students did not discuss this, he suspended the program with an ultimatum to go on strike again. A student said, “We were forced to take to the streets after getting no results through peaceful programs to achieve our demands. If the assurances do not work again this time, we will go on a stricter program.”