JU students break into their dorms

Several hundred students of Jahangirnagar University broke open the locks to all 16 residential halls yesterday, a day after at least 35 students were injured in clashes with villagers just outside the campus.

However, the university authorities later locked down eight female dormitories. They said reopening of the university and the halls was subject to a government decision.

The institution and its dormitories have been closed since March last year due to the pandemic.

Yesterday, over 600 students gathered in front of the Shaheed Minar on campus demanding reopening of the halls. They later took position before the vice-chancellor's residence around 11:00am.

The agitators placed three-point demand before the university authorities. The demands are: reopening of the halls, closure of a road linking the campus to Gerua Bazar, and legal actions against the attackers of students.

The students blamed the university administration for its failure to protect the students during Friday's clashes.

The JU authorities assured the protesters of meeting all their demands, except reopening of halls.

Speaking to journalists, Prof Motaher Hossain, president of the hall provost committee, said no one would be allowed to stay inside the dormitories amid the pandemic as there was a government decision to keep educational institutions shut.

Around noon, the agitating students intercepted a youth from Gerua Bazar on a road in the campus suspecting him to be involved in Friday's attacks. They beat him up and vandalised his motorbike before letting him go, said witnesses.

In the afternoon, the university syndicate in an emergency meeting decided that a case would be filed against villagers over attacking students.

Visiting the halls in the afternoon, this correspondent found that some students were staying at the male dormitories.

At least 35 JU students were injured in Friday's clashes over a cricket match feud between JU students and villagers in Gerua Bazar.

Intermittent clashes took place between the two sides after locals were called in via loudspeakers of a local mosque, saying that robbers entered the village, said witnesses.

People armed with rods, sticks and other weapons attacked JU students and vandalised some motorbikes and shops during the clashes.

Speaking to this newspaper, JU Assistant Proctor Md Rony Hossain said 10 students were undergoing treatment at Enam Medical College and Hospital yesterday.

In a press statement, the JU Public Relations Office yesterday said staging demonstrations and breaking open the locks of residential halls during the closure of the institution were against the decisions of the university syndicate.

"As per the syndicate decision, the university is closed since Match 16, 2020, until further notice. The ban on visitors and holding all kinds of programmes is still in force. So, staging demonstrations and breaking open the locks of residential halls were against the decisions of the syndicate," read the statement.

Urging the students to respect the syndicate's decision, it further said the university authorities would bear the treatment expenses of all the injured students.

JU acting proctor ASM Firoz Ul Hasan said they would hold a meeting yesterday evening with the higher authorities of the state (education ministry, University Grants Commission) to resolve the problems.

STUDENTS IN TROUBLE

With the university closed for nearly a year, many JU students are forced to rent messes and houses in villages around the campus.

Samia Islam, a 45th batch student of the government and politics department, is one of them.

Speaking to The Daily Star yesterday, she said several thousand students are renting messes and houses near the campus as they need to stay there to provide private tuitions to students.

"Besides, there is no good internet service provider at the students' homes in villages. That's why they are forced to stay near the campus," Samia added.

She said they were feeling insecure since Friday's clashes. She demanded the university authorities open the halls immediately to ensure their safety.

The university recently held the viva voce exams of its 45th batch students virtually.

Meanwhile, the JU unit of Bangladesh Chhatra Union, Socialistic Students Front, and Jahangirnagar Cultural Alliance in separate press statements yesterday condemned the attack on students.

Speaking to reporters yesterday, Dhaka (North) Additional Superintendent of Police (crime) Abdullahil Kafi said police teams would be deployed on JU campus and nearby areas to maintain law and order.