Students of Rajshahi University on Tuesday held a cultural gathering and protest rally on the campus, demanding immediate implementation of the long-stalled Teesta River Master Plan.
They organised the programmes at the university鈥檚 Zoha Chattar at about 5:00pm, where over one hundred students from various departments participated.
They also performed protest songs highlighting the suffering of the northern region鈥檚 people due to the water crisis.
Tamanna Akter, a student of islamic studies, said that they demanded Bangladesh鈥檚 rightful share of Teesta water 鈥� either through construction of embankments under the Teesta Master Plan or through a fair bilateral agreement.
鈥極ur demand is simple, we want Teesta鈥檚 water,鈥� she said.
Theatre department student Swayonti said that the once-mighty Teesta had turned into a desert. 鈥榃hen farmers need water, there鈥檚 none, and when they don鈥檛, floods destroy their crops. Bangladesh must reclaim its fair share,鈥� she added.
Senate student representative Fahim Reza said that the Teesta issue was inseparable from the country鈥檚 survival.
鈥楩armers are struggling to irrigate their land while India continues to delay the Teesta water-sharing treaty. What was promised in the name of an agreement remains unfulfilled,鈥� he added.
Expressing solidarity, Islami Chhatra Shibir RU unit general secretary Mujahid Faisal said that if any external force tried to control their rivers and water resources, they would never accept it.
鈥楤angladesh must not bow to any third-party decision on Teesta or Farakka鈥�, he added.