JU corruption allegation unreal: Minister
Echoing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s warning, Deputy Education Minister Mohibul Hassan Chowdhoury today slammed protesting teachers and students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) saying that the government would take action against those who will “create nuisance” on the university campus in the name of protest.
“We will see from where they get money to organise a concert and to continue the protest,” Mohibul said while addressing a press conference at the International Mother Language Institute in Dhaka.
Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina while addressing the 12th council of Jatiya Sramik League at Suhrawardy Udyan, said her government will stop providing funds to public universities if their teachers do not control provocative activities to take their students to a wrong path in the name of movement.
Terming the allegation of financial corruption as unreal, Mohibul said, “We told them (protesters) to submit their allegations….We will see how strong are their allegations that took four days to come to us from Savar.”
“No fund has yet been disbursed to implement the mega project,” the deputy minister said pointing finger at the agitation students and teachers.
Dismissing possibility of forming a probe body immediately to investigate the allegation, Mohibul said they will first inspect who are instigating the protesters.
If the allegations are found false, then the government will take legal action against the protesters if necessary, the junior minister said.
On Friday night, representatives of the university’s protesting students and teachers submitted a six-page written complaint and around 70-page written information about the alleged corruption against Vice Chancellor Farzana Islam to Abdul Aleem Khan, personal secretary to the education minister.
The development came a day after the prime minister criticised the campus protesters saying that they would have to face punishment if they failed to prove the graft allegation.
JU plunged into a crisis in the wake of the student protests since August. The demonstrators have been demanding a judicial enquiry into the reported corruption worth Tk 1,445 crore brought against its vice-chancellor of a development project on the campus.
On Tuesday, the JU authorities shut down the university for an indefinite period and banned processions and rallies on the campus until further notice.
The two top leaders of central BCL -- the president and the general secretary -- were removed from the posts after allegations surfaced that they demanded their “fair share” from the financial allocation for the university’s development work.
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