Gazette after PM's return

Leaders of the quota reform movement yesterday postponed their agitation till May 7, following an assurance that the gazette abolishing the quota system in government jobs will be published by the then.

They made the announcement after Awami League lawmaker Jahangir Kabir Nanak told them that the government would publish the gazette after the prime minister's return from abroad.

The PM is now visiting Australia and is expected to return home on Monday.

A 14-member team of Bangladesh Sadharan Chhatra Adhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad, the platform which led the protest, went to Nanak's NAM Flat on Manik Mia Avenue around 9:00pm and held a meeting there for almost two hours.

Talking to The Daily Star, Platform's Joint Convener Bin Yamin said Nanak invited them to discuss the issue.

“As the prime minister has made all the decisions regarding the protest, she has to be present for the publication of the gazette,” said Yamin, quoting Nanak.

“We will wait till her return and would not wage any protest till May 7,” said Nurul Haque Nur, another joint convener. 

Earlier on April 26, the quota movement leaders warned that they would resume agitation if a gazette notification was not published by April.

In the face of mass protests by students of public and private university students across the country, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced scrapping the quota systems in parliament on April 11.

However, a parliamentary committee which later discussed the issue spoke in favour of logical reformation instead of abolishing the system altogether.