VC, wife leave HSTU campus in the dark

The vice-chancellor of Hajee Mohammad Danesh Science and Technology University (HSTU) left the campus on Wednesday dawn, allegedly in fear after some job seekers in presence of high officials of the university allegedly mounted pressure on him to finalise a recruitment before the end of his tenure on January 31.

Dr Abul Kashem and his wife left the campus at around 3:40am Wednesday by his official vehicle.

All of this unfolded in presence of the university's treasurer Dr Bidhan Chandra Haldar and registrar Dr Fazlul Haq, the VC told the Daily Star over the phone.

The jobseekers allegedly confined the VC and his wife for seven hours.

He said the jobseekers stormed his official residence at the campus on Tuesday morning. Around 30 people got inside his residence and mounted pressure on him to finalise the human resources recruitment, but the VC turned them down as he could not do so.

Later, raged jobseekers cut off the power line of his official residence at around 3:30pm Thursday. "I was in complete darkness for hours and without water," he told the newspaper.

Till 9:30pm, the situation continued, he said.

Informed, a police team rushed to the campus and kept monitoring the situation. Mithun Sarkar, ASP of Dinajpur Sadar circle, said, adding police personnel were deployed to keep the situation calm.

"I left the campus as I was feeling unsafe there," said the VC over the phone, who arrived in Dhaka at around 3pm Wednesday, adding that his wife was stunned and distraught.

Before leaving, he handed over the charge to the treasurer.

The four-year contractual term of the VC was set to end on January 31.

A tense situation prevailed at the campus for the last couple of days over recruitment, allegedly mostly among students of HSTU and relatives of officials, teachers, and staffers.

VC Dr Abul Kasehm said he was pressured to finalise recruitment of 22 officials, 62 teachers, and 50 staffers on an ad-hoc basis. That violated the terms of UGC, said the VC.

Contacted, HSTU treasurer Dr Bidhan Chandra Halder denied the allegation against him, saying he came to know of the VC leaving after coming to office yesterday.

Dr Fazlur Haq, the registrar, also denied the allegation against him.