Protesters have once again taken out a rally in Dhaka and demanded that the upper age limit for entry into public sector jobs be raised to 35 years.
They started gathering at Shah Bagh around 10 am on Wednesday. Despite facing resistance from the police, the rally finally started at 11 am.
At the same time, members of the BNP youth-affiliated Jubo Dal were seen preparing for a separate rally outside the National Museum. The protesters claimed that they faced a strong response from law enforcement agencies, who used water cannons to disperse them. When they marched from Shah Bagh to the Education Building.
He added that the police asked him to move his rally to TSC, citing concerns over obstructions as another rally was scheduled to take place in Shahbagh.
The protest organizers insisted that they had received permission to take out the rally from the Shahbag police station. However, the police said that though an application was submitted, no official approval was given.
“I have come from Faridpur today for this rally,” said Muhammad Rafiqul Islam, a protester. Now the police are trying to stop us from gathering. We cannot come to Dhaka from such a distance everyday.
“This new Bangladesh is meant to be a merit-based country, so why impose age restrictions? I don’t understand the contradiction.”
Rooman Sana, a spokesperson for the protesters, said, “Today we faced a police hurdle in our rally for a fair demand. When we marched from Shahbagh to the Education Building, the police used water cannons against us.”
On 24 October, the interim government announced a decision to raise the age limit for entry into government jobs from two years to 32. Additionally, it restricted the number of attempts in BCS exams to three.
However, the Students’ Coordination Council rejected the government’s decision, pushing for the age limit to be raised to 35.
The movement to increase the age limit for government jobs to 35 years has been going on for a decade. But the previous Awami League government rejected this demand several times.
The issue gained renewed attention after the ouster of Sheikh Hasina’s administration by a student-led popular uprising in August, with the interim government indicating it was more open to the idea.
A committee was formed to review the situation and fix the age limit keeping in mind the current situation and facts of the country.
The committee then recommended that the age limit for entry into government jobs be raised to 35 years for men and 37 years for women. But, the interim government finally decided to increase the age limit by two years.