DU, RU teachers held
The manner in which the five university teachers were picked up from their residences, for the purpose of questioning, without their family members or the university authorities having any information on their whereabouts for nearly 48 hours, violates the fundamental rights guaranteed by our constitution. Emergency cannot be a ground to mistreat our university teachers. Yesterday the two DU teachers were taken on remand under Emergency Power Rules.
Insofar as the original incident at the university gymnasium is concerned, the matter was handled in a very wise and mature manner, which we had commended the armed forces for in our editorial the following day. The next day's agitation by students and others witnessed senseless violence, which received widespread condemnation including in our editorial the day after.
But subsequently, the treatment meted out to the students near Aziz Supermarket and various parts of Dhaka University, teachers' quarters, and random beatings in various parts of the city, none of which behooves the conduct of the law enforcers, especially the armed forces. Finally, lodging of cases against thousands of nameless people (anywhere between 30 to 48,000) can only be seen as a device to harass innocent people. If good sense prevails, government will review this measure. All these are creating an atmosphere of fear and alienation and widening the gulf between the caretaker government and its backers, and us. This is the last thing that the army or the people want.
Instead of retribution and arrests we suggest that dialogue be opened between the teachers and students on one hand and the caretaker government on the other. A durable solution can come from understanding, which is only possible through dialogue. Dhaka University is not a mere institution, it is the symbol of pride as the birth place of all democratic movements in the country, ever since 1947. Don't treat this venerable institution lightly. The sooner a dialogue is initiated the better.
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