Tensions erupted at Shahbagh in the capital on Friday afternoon as police clashed with a group of job-seeking graduates with disabilities who were marching towards the chief adviser’s residence, Jamuna.
The confrontation broke out around 3:30pm when police stopped the demonstrators in front of the National Museum, prompting them to stage a sit-in at the spot.
Witnesses said over 50 disabled and visually impaired young men and women gathered at Shahbagh. Despite holding graduate and postgraduate degrees from various universities and colleges, they have long been protesting their lack of access to employment opportunities.
On Friday, they announced plans to march to Jamuna and hold a sit-in there, but police intercepted them at Shahbagh. Tensions flared when officers tried to clear them from the road.
Protesters alleged that police used batons and forcibly removed several visually impaired women.
One visually impaired student said, “We came here peacefully to demand employment opportunities. But the police beat us and took the girls away separately. We want to know why they were separated.”
Another protester added, “In 2018, we also faced violence during a similar demonstration. Now it is happening again. We are citizens of this country, and we are educated. Our only demand is a job.”
The demonstrators said there are numerous vacant teaching positions in special education programmes for the visually impaired across 64 districts. They demanded special recruitment for persons with disabilities to fill these posts.
They argued that if special recruitment can be arranged for doctors, engineers, and other professions, it should also be done for persons with disabilities.
They added that many of them had completed their honours and master’s degrees through the Braille system and therefore deserved employment opportunities.
However, Shahbagh Police Station Officer-in-Charge Khalid Monsur denied the allegations of assault, saying, “No one was beaten. For safety reasons, they were moved from the road to a secure spot in front of the museum.”
The protesters said they had earlier submitted memorandums to the Ministry of Social Welfare, the Ministry of Public Administration, and the chief adviser over the past year, but no effective action had been taken.
Their three key demands are:
Special recruitment for persons with disabilities through an executive order by the chief adviser;
Amendment of the existing quota system to create specific posts for persons with disabilities;
Appointment of teachers to vacant positions in institutions for the visually impaired.
