BNP lends support to anti-quota, pension protests
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today announced BNP's support for the ongoing quota reform and pension movements.
"We support the legitimate and logical demands of the students on quota," Fakhrul said at a press conference at the party's chairperson's office in Gulshan.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel. He said the current "illegal, unelected, authoritarian government is trying to suppress the just movement of the student community using the judiciary."
"There is no alternative to establishing a merit-based state system to survive in the technology and knowledge-based global system," said the BNP leader.
He also pledged his party's support to the movement of teachers who are demanding the reinstatement of the previous pension facilities instead of the newly introduced Universal Pension Scheme.
He said teachers are paying the price for the government's mismanagement and corruption.
He said a class of businessmen, looters, syndicates and some corrupt government officials and employees are looting the country with the blessings of the ruling class.
He also accused the government of attempting to take "pension money from teachers" in a bid to tackle the economic crisis.
"They are siphoning off money abroad by destroying banks and all financial sectors. The government is not taking any effective steps against them. In such a situation, on what basis will the citizens invest their earned wealth in this new looting scheme?" asked Fakhrul.
"This pension scheme has to be withdrawn," he added.
Fakhul's statement comes as protests on anti-quota and the new pension scheme are intensifying across the country.
On Thursday, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court decided to uphold until further orders the June 5 High Court verdict that reinstated the quota system after terming illegal a 2018 government circular that abolished it.
After the verdict, student protesters said they would bring out processions on college and university campuses on Saturday (today) and boycott classes and exams on Sunday, demanding the reinstatement of the government's 2018 circular.
Meanwhile, teachers and employees are observing an indefinite strike since July 1 in most of the public universities in the country demanding the reinstatement of the previous pension facilities.
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