Students of Dhaka University staged a protest rally and torch march early Friday demanding the implementation of the Teesta Masterplan.
Around 1am on Friday, the demonstrators gathered at the base of the Raju Memorial Sculpture, chanting “Rise up, save Teesta,” before marching through the campus.
The programme was announced in solidarity with a separate torch-lit march covering “around 100 kilometres” along the Teesta River banks in Mahipur area of Gangachhara upazila, led by Asadul Habib Dulu, chief coordinator of the Teesta River Protection Movement.
The call for the Dhaka University protest was made at around 11:30pm by Zahid Hasan, a student of the Department of Information Science and Library Management, through a Facebook group named “Dhaka University Students’ Parliament.”
Speakers at the rally criticised what they described as the “silence” of political leaders and the media on the issue.
Expressing solidarity with the Teesta River Protection Movement, Mosaddeq Al Ibne Mohammad, Literary and Cultural Affairs Secretary of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU), said, “The Teesta Masterplan must be implemented with China’s cooperation, not India’s.”
“India is strongly opposed to the Teesta Masterplan. Nearly one lakh people have already joined this movement—it can be said this is currently the biggest public mobilisation in Bangladesh. Yet, there is hardly any coverage in mainstream media,” Mosaddeq said.
