Students of Jagannath University (JnU) called a 24-hour strike for Thursday at the university demanding construction of residential halls for them on the empty land of Dhaka Central Jail. The JnU students came up with the announcement while staging demonstrations in front of the Jatiya Press Club to press home their demand on Wednesday. Earlier, the general students of JnU took position in front of the Press Club around 10:30am, disrupting traffic on the busy road. As they moved to proceed towards Education Bhaban, police obstructed them at about 11:10am. However, the students withdrew their blockade around 12:50 pm. The students demanded constructing residential halls for them on the empty land of Dhaka Central Jail as they are now facing accommodation problem due to unwillingness of landlords to rent out their houses to students in the wake of militancy in the country. Meanwhile, JnU Proctor Prof Nur Mohammad said, “The students’ demand is logical but it is not right to mount public sufferings by blocking roads. Necessary steps will be taken after discussions.” The JnU students have been staging demonstrations since August 2 on the campus demanding construction of dormitories on the empty land of Dhaka Central Jail which has been shifted to Keraniganj. — Dhaka, Aug 17 (UNB)
