Two senior figures from Bangladesh’s National Citizen Party (NCP) visited teachers staging an indefinite hunger strike at the Central Shaheed Minar in Dhaka on October 19.

The demonstrators pressed for a government notification on three specific benefits: a 20 percent increase in house rent allowance, a Tk1,500 monthly medical allowance, and a 75 percent festival bonus for non-teaching employees.

Hasnat Abdullah, the NCP’s chief organiser for the southern region, and Dr Tasnim Jara, the party’s senior joint member secretary, checked on several teachers who had fallen ill and asked about the government’s position on the demands, according to organisers present at the site. 

The two also urged the educators to continue their movement until the authorities issue the promised gazette, organisers said. Abdullah and Jara’s party roles and spellings were confirmed in recent coverage of the NCP’s activities. 

The teachers began their indefinite hunger strike at the Central Shaheed Minar on October 18. Their action follows weeks of escalating protests by educators under the banner of an alliance seeking nationalisation of MPO-listed educational institutions. 

On social media, Delwar Hossain Azizi—identified in multiple reports as the member secretary of the alliance—shared photographs of Abdullah and Dr Jara at the site and relayed their advice to the teachers. Azizi has been a key spokesperson for the movement as it has spread from sit-ins at Shaheed Minar to wider work stoppages. 

Organisers said the teachers plan a “hunger march” (bhukha michhil) toward Education Bhaban today, carrying plates and bowls from the Shaheed Minar as a symbolic protest, while the central strike continues. 

In recent days, teachers have also staged blockades and vowed to maintain class boycotts until the government issues the gazette reflecting the allowance changes. 

SMS/