Quota protesters living in fear
A section of Dhaka and Jagannath university teachers yesterday urged their respective university administrations to ensure safety of the students who participated in the protest demanding quota reform in public service recruitment and a stable education environment.
The demands came from a programme organised by Bangladesh Sadharan Chhatra Adhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad, the leading platform of the quota reform demonstration, in the Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) auditorium of DU.
Abul Kashem Fazlul Huq, supernumerary professor of DU's Bangla department, said there was no ground for the police attack on the students' logical movement. The government should have resolved the issue before the law enforcers attacked the protestors or filed cases against them, he added.
Condemning the attack on DU vice-chancellors' residence, he said the university administration and police made the situation more complicated by filing cases against unidentified protesters which triggered fear among general students.
MM Akash, an economics professor of DU, said it would be a great mistake if the government tried to suppress the protest by labelling it “BNP/Jamaat-led movement”.
“It is true that a faction infiltrated into the protest programme and that faction launched the attack on the vice-chancellor's residence,” he added.
Speaking about the quota system, the professor said a special privilege can be effective for a short period, but it should not continue for generations.
“I am also a freedom fighter. I do not think that the freedom fighters fought for any privileges. The government should reform the quota system to build the public administration on the basis of merit,” he added.
Teachers will wage tougher movement if any protester is harassed by law enforcing agencies or the university administration, warned Dhaka University's mass communication and journalism teacher Dr Fahmidul Haq.
“We gave silent consent to the issue but we could not resist ourselves from being vocal after seeing the incident of April 8,” he said.
“Students are being tortured in their dormitories and the teachers who are entrusted to ensure their security are not performing their duties properly. Don't always smell conspiracy in all logical movement, try to understand the pulse of the masses,” he added.
Tanjimuddin Khan, an associate professor of international relations of DU, said as the hall administration failed to play an active role to resolve the students' problems, the university authorities should install a complaint box in front of the vice-chancellor's house so that general students can easily express their grievances.
At the programme, joint convener of the quota protest platform Nurul Huq Nur placed their five-point demand including punishment for those who were spotted with weapons before the vice-chancellor's house on the night of April 9.
Their other demands include formation of special autonomous cells to ensure safety of students and teachers; installation of security posts at the campus entrances; and ensuring students' freedom of speech.
Dhaka University teachers Robaet Ferdous and Rashidul Hasan, and Jagannath University's teacher Nasir Uddin Ahmed, who was recently sacked for alleged plagiarism, also spoke.
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