Pro-VC shows documents claiming his innocence
Rajshahi University (RU) pro-Vice Chancellor Prof Choudhury M Zakaria yesterday claimed that he was not involved in any kind of corruption regarding recruitment.
In a press conference, he showed documents of “illegal dealing” which he had claimed in a previous statement.
With the documents, Prof Zakaria claimed that on November 4, 2018, Nurul Huda -- an applicant for lecturer post at law department of RU -- sent Tk 2 lakh to a bank account of “Decent Traders”, days before the teacher recruitment board was held on November 13 that year. A document shows that the account holder is Prof Abdul Hannan, who is now the chairman of law department.
The Pro-VC also presented an audio clip of conversation held between Nurul Huda and Prof Abdul Hannan.
During the conversation, Nurul was heard telling Hannan, “..Sir, do you remember the Tk 2 lakh that I lent you some days ago,” and asked him to return the money.
In reply, Prof Hannan is heard saying he would pay it soon.
“The conversation was just after the recruitment board, when Nurul failed to get the job. Nurul was asking Prof Hannan to return the money,”the pro-VC claimed, demanding a judicial investigation into the matter.
On the other hand, talking to journalists, Prof Hannan denied the allegations of corruption.
He acknowledged of owning the bank account which is used for a business. He also said he received the money on that day. But the money was not directly from Nurul Huda or any other lecturer candidates. It came from a different person, as a loan, and Nurul Huda managed it for his business “Decent Traders”.
“I repaid the money by November 11. So the allegations the pro-VC brought [against me] of Nurul asking me for returning the money after failing to get the job, is not true.”
The audio clip of the conversation was from a week before the recruitment board was formed, Prof Hannan claimed.
Contacted yesterday, Nurul again denied to make any comments about it, saying he would speak up “when the time comes”.
Nurul, a law student of RU of the 2011-2012 session, had won the Prime Minister’s Gold medal for his outstanding results in 2018. He had applied for the position of lecturer last November, but was not selected.
TEACHERS, STUDENTS DEMONSTRATE ON CAMPUS
Earlier in the day, teachers and students of RU demonstrated on campus, demanding removal of the VC and pro-VC.
More than 50 teachers of different departments took position on Paris Road near the senate building around 11am, under the banner of “Teachers against corruption”. They demanded removal of those two top officials from the university.
The pro-VC has been embroiled in a controversy regarding taking money from a lecturer applicant at law department, while the VC came under fire for saying “Jai Hind” at a programme on the campus last week.
Attending the rally, Prof Dulal Chandra Biswas of the mass communication and journalism department said, “A VC can not deliver such remarks standing in an independent country. It is against our independence. We do not expect such remark from a person. We should protest it.”
About pro-VC Zakaria, he said, “The audio clip of a conversation is just a part of continuous corruption in teacher recruiting. We urged the authorities concerned to take immediate action against those officials who are involved in corruption.”
Prof Shafiqunnabe Samadi of Bangla department said, “We want the university to be a place for practicing knowledge, not a place for corruption. We want immediate action against top officials who are involved into corruption,” he added.
Around 300 students also started a demonstration with the same demand from the central library at the same time, and later joined the teachers’ programme.
Earlier around 10am, Farid Uddin Khan, an associate prof of economics department, held a three-hour-long silent protest, standing alone at university’s Zoha Chattar, holding a placard demanding corruption-free educational environment.
HOW IT ALL STARTED
On Monday, an audio clip of a conversation between the pro-VC and wife of Nurul Huda surfaced on social media, where Prof Zakaria is heard talking about money for a job recruitment.
In a written statement, Prof Zakaria had acknowledged that he had the conversation, saying, “I made the call to verify information that the job seeker was involved with some people to get the job through illegal dealing.”
RU VC Prof Abdus Sobhan said a probe committee would be formed immediately to look into the matter.
Meanwhile, speaking at an international conference at the university’s senate building on Saturday, the VC said “Jai Hind”, alongside “Joy Bangla” and “Joy Bangabandhu”, which drew strong reaction on social media.
While talking to journalists, Prof Sobhan claimed that he did not make any remark against the country’s independence. He said he only said those words expressing gratitude to Indian delegates at that conference. “I heard many people of top authorities shout such slogans before,” he added.
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