Jagannath University (JnU) students staged a protest march and road blockade at the university's main gate and Tati Bazar intersection, demanding the reinstatement of the quota system in government jobs.

Around 3:00pm today, under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, JnU students marched from the campus to the Tati Bazar intersection, where they held a blockade programme carrying the national flag of Bangladesh and chanted slogans.

The blockade caused severe traffic congestion, with hundreds of vehicles, including long-distance buses to and from Dhaka, stuck on the road.

Passengers suffered due to huge traffic jams. Meanwhile, protesters vowed to continue their movement until their demands were met.

A protester Rakibul Hasan Rakib said, "We are students; our job is to study, but the government has forced us to take to the streets. After all our hard work, if quota holders get the jobs while we with merit sit idle, is unacceptable. We demand the immediate abolition of the quota system."

Another student Md Ifti Rahman said, "No other country has such a quota system for government jobs. We, the general students, are victims of discrimination. We do not want quotas; we want jobs based on merit."

Niloy Hasan, another protester, said, "The government has introduced the quota system to give special privileges to a particular group. Are we not citizens of the country? Doesn't the government have any responsibility towards us? Why this discrimination?"

In solidarity with the movement to abolish the quota system, students from 34 departments of Jagannath University have boycotted classes and exams. They declared that they will not return to classes until their demands are met.