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Published : 07 Apr 2025, 02:42 PM
Educational institutions across Bangladesh are observing an academic and administrative shutdown as students protest Israel’s continued attacks on Palestine. Several student organisations have also announced protest rallies and marches to take place later in the day.
The "No work, no school" campaign began on Monday after student groups and general students declared they would boycott classes and exams in solidarity with global protests, including those in New York, against Israeli aggression in Gaza. Many educational institutions have since voiced their support for the initiative.
From around 10am, students and staff in Dhaka and other parts of the country gathered on their campuses, chanting slogans and holding demonstrations.
In a show of support for the global student movement protesting Israel’s actions in Gaza, Dhaka University suspended all classes and exams scheduled for Monday. Administrative offices at the university were also closed between 9am and 11am, according to Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, acting director of the university’s Public Relations Office.
Other public universities, including Jahangirnagar University, Begum Rokeya University, and Noakhali Science and Technology University, as well as several private universities, also cancelled academic activities to stand in solidarity.
Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, an advisor to the interim government, publicly expressed his support through a Facebook post made shortly after 12:15pm on Monday.
“No work, no school. Solidarity. Not going to join work today,” he wrote.
He had earlier changed his Facebook cover photo to an image of the Palestinian flag, which still remains on his profile.
Several student organisations, including BNP-affiliated Chhatra Dal, the Democratic Students Council, and Islami Chhatra Shibir, have declared solidarity with the cause and called for nationwide protests demanding an end to the Israeli assault on Gaza.
Rafiqul Islam Aini, an organiser of the National Citizen Party (NCP), announced that the party’s Dhaka city unit will hold a protest rally on Monday against both Israel’s aggression and India’s proposed Waqf Amendment Bill. The march will begin at 4pm in front of the National Museum in Shahbagh.
Jahid Ahsan, central member secretary of the Democratic Students Council, said the organisation had called on all educational institutions in Bangladesh to join the global “March for Palestine” by observing a day of solidarity, demanding an end to the violence in Gaza and recognition of an independent Palestinian state. A rally will be held at 4pm at the Raju Memorial Sculpture on the Dhaka University campus.
Meanwhile, the Chhatra Dal has announced its own programme for Wednesday. According to a statement, students across the country will wear black armbands and stage a sit-in at their institutions starting at 10:30am, followed by protest rallies in major city centres at noon.
Earlier, on Sunday night, general students of Dhaka University staged a protest march on campus condemning the attacks in Palestine.
Shakil Uzzaman, office secretary of Gono Odhikar Parishad, said the organisation’s student wing also held a solidarity rally on Sunday night in the capital’s Bijoynagar.
