In the absence of any move by the government on issuing a gazette notification on abolishing the quota system for civil servant recruitment, demonstrators have called for fresh protests by forming human chain in colleges and universities nationwide at 11 a.m. today. It is unclear as to why there has been no move on the issue especially where the prime minister herself announced this decision in parliament on April 11. It defused a very tense situation where thousands of university and college students had rallied under Bangladesh Sadharan Chhatra Adhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad which crippled movement in the capital city. Yet, even as the deadline for announcing gazette notification ran out on May 7, the cabinet secretary had informed the press that there was no instruction in this regard and we have no way of knowing as to when the public administration ministry will issue the gazette. We expect that at least the process of issuing notification be initiated soon.

No one wants another round of student agitation in the country. It had brought untold suffering to commuters and the clashes with police left many students injured. One should not forget the fact that Ramadan is round the corner and the last thing anyone needs is certain points in the city to become choking points if agitating students decide to cut off access to certain main roads in the city.

A rational policy needs to be formulated that allows for the meritorious from our education system to compete for a government job while making provisions for the marginalised and ethnic minorities, and that is what the PM had announced. Thus we see no reason as to why there should be any bureaucratic delay in making it official and put a stop to any further agitation by students.