The anti-quota protesters declared to observe a day-long blockade on Thursday if their demand to reform the quota system logically and constitutionally within the next two days is not met.

The protesters declared this announcement only before the closing of today’s blockade at the Shahbag intersection around 8.30 pm today.

“As we see that the government is not paying heed to us and every time tells us that it is a matter of court, we abided to plan an all-out blockade. There will be no blockade tomorrow.”

Before this, the protesters from other blockade sites-including Science Lab, Gulistan, Newmarket, Banglamotor, Motso Vobon Intersection, Poribag, Karwan Bazar, farmgate- came to the Shahbag intersection to express their solidarity with the movement. 

Hasnat Abdullah, another spokesman of the movement, said, students want to go back to their study table but you are not allowing them to go to the study table. We want this quota system to be reformed logically and constitutionally at the minimum rate for the unprivileged people. We are determined to acquire our claim and are ready to pay any cost. 

Sargis Alam, another frontliner of the movement, said, today we have blocked the most important intersections and crossings of Dhaka city and other cities too. As a result of our blockade, communication among 40 districts was disrupted. If we want, we can disconnect all 64 districts of the country within the next two days.
“If we want to build Shonar Bangla, we must allow the real worthy students for this. Quota prevents the real worthy and qualified to be selected. So, it is impossible to implement the dream of Shonar Bangla. We will be on the highways till our demand is met,” he added.  

Nahid Islam, one of the main coordinators of the movement, said while giving the concluding speech, “We are planning an all-out blockade around the country. We didn’t want to form a committee but as the movement is going long and long day by day. it is getting harder for us to coordinate among the fellows around the country. To address this, we formed a team of coordinators from different campuses to run our movement smoothly.”
 
“The government says this is a court matter and only the court can address it. But we know that needs to be solved by the government. As a result, the movement is getting wider dimensions every day. We are not responsible for this,” he added.
 
While talking about their next moves, he said, “If the situation does not change, We will not sit calm and observe only a day blockade. We will call for an all-out and day-long blockade across the country. Tomorrow we will coordinate among our fellow brothers and sisters in both online and offline platforms to prepare ourselves for an all-out and day-long blockade on Thursday and we know that we can do it very well.”