The police intercepted the march of graduates with disabilities towards the chief adviser’s residence Jamuna, demanding employment rights for them, at Shahbagh intersection in Dhaka on Friday.
A group of people with disabilities under the banner of ‘Chakri Pratyasi Pratibandhi Graduate Parishad’ gathered at the Teachers-Students Centre on the Dhaka University campus and later started marching towards Jamuna via Shahbagh to press their five-point demands.
The demands included employment opportunities for disabled people, categorised by disability type to be arranged every two years through special circulars, two per cent quota in first and second-class government jobs and five per cent in third and fourth-class positions and allowing them to nominate their own scribes.
When the protesters reached at Shahbagh intersection at about 4:00pm, the police intercepted them.
Later the protesters blocked the road, disrupting vehicular movement in the area.
Shahbagh police officer-in-charge Khalid Mansoor said that a group of 20 to 25 people with disabilities blocked the road for about 45 minutes since 4:00pm.
The police later dispersed them without using any force, he said, adding that the protesters took positions on the side of the road.
The vehicular movement on the road remained normal as of Friday evening, added the police official.
When the police intervene to disperse the protesters from the road, a scuffle occurred between the protesters and the police officials, according to eyewitnesses.
Protesters alleged that the police baton charged them and broke some of their white canes, the sticks used by the people with eye disabilities.
Regarding the matter, Shahbagh OC Khalid said, ‘They were not beaten in any way. They were removed from the road for safety reasons. The police dealt the matter with utmost sincerity without using any force.’
They also demanded ensuring recruitment of the people with eye disabilities job-seekers in vacant posts under the Department of Social Services, particularly in braille-based education and PHT centres, and raising the age limit for government jobs for people with disabilities to 35 years or 37 if the general age limit is increased to 35.