Students March on Government House

TALAS — Students and delivery couriers marched from Talas State University to Government House yesterday to protest a new municipal licensing surcharge on independent technology startups and couriers. The march appeared to have no formal organizers; participants said it had been arranged through messaging groups over the weekend.

The surcharge was announced by the Talas municipal administration this month. Criticism spread after the commentator Jason Ilyasov called it "a tax on the only part of the economy the family doesn't own yet" on IradOne's OneDebate, and clips of the exchange circulated widely on social media. Estimates of the crowd varied widely: the police put it at several hundred, while student groups said several thousand took part. Some small traders from the Bazar-i Kalan area joined the march.

Police lines blocked the approaches to Government House, and marchers sang the anthem and chanted slogans against the levy before dispersing in the evening. "I deliver food to pay for my studies. Now they want a license fee for my bicycle," said a third-year economics student who gave her name as Aizhan. The municipal administration said the surcharge was a lawful licensing measure and would apply as planned. Students said they would return today.