Quota demo: CU students fail to protest over BCL threat

Students of Chittagong University’s Communication and Journalism department could not hold their protest programme today as they were threatened by the university unit Bangladesh Chhatra League members.

The students were scheduled to hold a human chain programme at CU Social Science Faculty around 11:30am demanding security for their teacher Khandakar Ali Ar Raji on the campus.  

A group of 50-60 BCL leader and activists went to the spot and threatened the students not to hold the programme.

The BCL members, earlier in the morning, threatened the students of the department after entering their classroom that they will be in trouble if they take part in the human chain, out CU correspondent reports quoting the protesters. 

" We have arranged the programme as BCL men declared Khandakar Ali Ar Raji, Assistant Professor, Communication and Journalism, persona non-grata on the campus over Raji's Facebook posts in favour of the quota reform movement.

Talking to reporters, CU unit BCL expelled committee vice president Mansur Alam claimed that “as a teacher, Ali Ar Raji, is making negative remarks regarding the prime minister on Facebook, It is our duty to stop anyone who supports the teacher and we will not spare anyone on this issue.”

Immediately after failing to hold the human chain, the students attended classes wearing black clothes on their faces.

Later, the agitating students of the department announced to boycott classes for indefinite period demanding their security in the classroom and protesting that the BCL members threatened the students at their classroom not to join the human chain programme.

The CU BCL members earlier announced Maidul Islam, assistant professor of sociology department, persona non-grata on the campus over the Facebook post on the same issues.

Later, the teacher left the campus after getting continuous threat from BCL men over his Facebook remarks on quota reform.

On July 17, BCL submitted a memorandum to the university's vice-chancellor against the two teachers-- Khandakar Ali Ar Raji and Maidul Islam.

On June 30, seven members of the quota platform, including its joint convener Nurul Haque Nur, were beaten by alleged BCL activists in front of the DU Central Library.

The attack took place when the quota reform leaders were taking preparation to hold the prescheduled press conference in front of the DU Central Library building to brief their next course of action as the government failed to issue a gazette notification by their deadline.

Since then, the pro-Awami League student organisation continued their attacks on quota reform leaders on the campuses of different universities. 

Three teachers of Dhaka University were recently assaulted by some BCL members on DU campus when they tried to save students from attack.

In April, students of public and private universities across the country took to the streets demanding reform in the quota system. The protesters blocked key points in the capital and roads and highways elsewhere.

At present, 56 per cent of government jobs are reserved for candidates from various quotas, while the remaining 44 percent draw applications from the merit list.

Of the 56 percent, 30 per cent are kept for freedom fighters' children and grandchildren, 10 per cent each for women and people of districts lagging behind, five per cent for members of indigenous communities, and one per cent for differently abled people.