Academics, alumni protest Chhatra League attack at JU
Protest and condemnations poured in to the streets of Dhaka University yesterday, over the BCL attack on protesting students, teachers and journalists at Jahangirnagar University.
At a protest rally in front of National Museum in the capital, teachers, former JU students, journalists and activists of different left-leaning student organisations demanded punishment of culpable BCL men and removal of JU Vice-Chancellor Professor Farzana Islam.
Addressing the rally, Prof Anu Muhammad of JU economics department, alleged that vice-chancellors and Chhatra League together in different university campuses established a corrupted, anti-education environment.
Prof Anu Muhammad, also the member secretary of National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports said, “General students spontaneously joined the protest as they know that BCL, who are now protecting the vice-chancellor, established torture cells at the dormitories. So if the VC is protected, the torture cells will become more powerful.”
The JU teacher urged people to stand by JU protesters.
Associate Professor of international relations at Dhaka University, Tanzimuddin Khan said teachers who performed their duties properly and stood against corruption fell victims to frequent attacks.
If teachers do not stand against such attacks and raise their voices against wrongdoings, they would be attacked again, Tanzimuddin Khan added.
Former JU student and eminent journalist Faruk Wasif said that teachers like Prof Sayeed Ferdous of anthropology and Raihan Rhyne of philosophy department -- who have remarkable academic records in their own fields -- also became victims of the attack, which was unfortunate.
Meanwhile, Bangladesh Chhatra Union brought out a protest rally at DU campus yesterday protesting the attack, while Bangladesh Chhatra Federation, Socialist Students Front and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal’s student wing in separate statements demanded punishment of the attackers.
A group of DU students led by DU Central Students’ Union’s Vice President Nurul Huq Nur also brought out a protest rally on campus.
POLICE FOIL DEMO AT RU
Meanwhile, police in Rajshahi yesterday evening dispersed students at Rajshahi University, when they tried to block the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway protesting BCL’s attack on students and teachers at JU, reports our RU correspondent.
Four students, who were injured in a scuffle that broke out with police, took primary treatment at the university’s medical centre.