JU protesters burn VC’s effigy

With no sign of an end to the impasse at Jahangirnagar University in sight, agitated students and teachers -- who have been demanding removal of Vice Chancellor Prof Farzana Islam -- burned the VC’s effigy on campus yesterday.

Over a hundred protesters brought out a procession under the banner of “Jahangirnagar Against Corruption” that started from social sciences faculty and ended on  university’s Shaheed Minar premises.

Later, they held a short rally and burnt an effigy around 1:30pm.

JU Chhatra Union general secretary Ariful Islam Anik said, “The vice-chancellor has tarnished the university’s image through corruption. Due to her autocratic behaviour, the administrative structure of the university has collapsed.”

“From today, she would not able to sign any office order as a vice-chancellor. We are rejecting her from now,” Anik declared.

Addressing the rally, Prof Khabir Uddin, one of the organisers of the platform, alleged that the VC asked several ministers including Information Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud to not join yesterday’s closing session of a math olympiad at the university where she was not invited.

“This is reprehensible. How can  a university’s VC do it?” he questioned.

However, VC Prof Farzana Islam denied the allegations.

“I, along with my office, was not informed or invited to the programme. The information minister asked me about the programme. I just told him the fact,” the VC said.

On the other hand, VC-backed teachers of the university released sky lanterns in the evening, protesting the anti-VC demonstrations on the campus that started on August 24.

Meanwhile, a three-day long math olympiad, organised by JU Science Club, ended yesterday amid festivity and fanfare, where around 5,000 students from across the country took part.