DU students start hunger strike demanding deferment of city polls

A section of Dhaka University students have gone on hunger strike demanding deferment of the polls to the two Dhaka city corporations scheduled to be held on January 30.

The students gathered in front of Raju Sculpture at 2:10pm on Thursday. 

Jagannath hall Chhatra Sangsad Vice-President Utpal Biswas and its General Secretary Kajal Das are leading the hunger strike programme.

 On Wednesday afternoon, students of Dhaka University have blocked the Shahbagh intersection in the city for the second consecutive day demanding deferment of the polls.

The students gathered in front of the Raju Sculpture on the DU campus in the morning and were seen giving slogans holding placards.

Later, they began a march towards the Election Commission office in Agargaon but police stopped them at Shahbagh. 

They left the scene at around 3 pm but warned that they would continue their movement until their demand is met.

On Tuesday afternoon, the students took to the street of Shahbagh after the High Court turned down a writ petition seeking its directive to defer the elections.

The court passed the order considering the progress in the election process and the Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examinations scheduled to take place on February 2.

On January 6, Supreme Court lawyer Ashoke Kumar Ghosh filed the writ petition requesting the court to order the EC to defer the election date and hold the polls in the first week of February.

Ghosh, in the petition, said that Saraswati Puja, one of the major religious festivals of the Hindu community, will be held at almost all academic institutions across the country on January 29 and January 30.

He explained that polling centres will be set up at the institutions for holding the election and for this, observance of the puja will be hampered.

On December 22, 2019, the Election Commission announced that the elections to the Dhaka south and north city corporations will be held on January 30.