Several eminent citizens yesterday said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina should not have attended the Qawmi madrasa platform's rally for which public examinations were deferred.
Talking to this newspaper, a number of renowned academics and rights activists said the Awami League-led government is meeting the platform's demands one after another for “political gains” and as “part of election strategy”.
Hasina joined the rally titled “Shokrana Mahfil” as the chief guest, while Hefajat-e Islam supremo Shah Ahmed Shafi chaired it at the capital's Suhrawardy Udyan.
Al-Hiyatul Ulya Lil-Zami'atil Qawmiya Bangladesh, a combine of Qawmi education boards led by Shafi, organised the rally to hail the passage of a bill making the Dawra-e-Hadith degree equivalent to master's in Islamic studies and Arabic on October 19.
Earlier on Saturday, the education ministry deferred the tests of Junior School Certificate and Junior Dakhil Certificate to November 9, citing unavoidable circumstances.