BCL men foil JU teachers' demo
Activists of pro-Awami League student body Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) yesterday vandalised a stage set up by agitating teachers of Jahangirnagar University and burnt the banner to foil their ongoing demonstrations demanding resignation of the vice-chancellor.
A faction of JU teachers under the banner of “Shikkhak Samaj” has been demanding the resignation of VC Prof Shariff Enamul Kabir since the murder of Zubair Ahmed, an English department student of the university, on January 9.
Their demonstration was fuelled by an incident early Thursday in which two teachers of the Botany department were arrested for allegedly assaulting chairman of the department Prof Ali Akand Mamun the evening before.
Yesterday, around 50 BCL activists led by Sheikh Shariful Islam of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall brought out a procession on campus and chanted slogans against the teachers of Shikkhak Samaj.
At one stage, they started vandalising the stage constructed in front of the administrative building and set fire to the banner. No teacher was present during the vandalism.
“We vandalised the stage and burnt their banner because they are creating impediments to our academic activities,” BCL leader Shariful Islam told The Daily Star.
Around 32 hours after the agitating teachers laid siege to his residence following arrest of the two teachers, teachers loyal to the VC rescued him from the confinement of his house in the presence of police yesterday.
After being rescued, Enamul Kabir called an emergency Syndicate meeting to discuss the situation of the university, sources said.
In the meeting, the Syndicate decided to restrict all kinds of demonstrations in front of the administration building and near the campus's residential area. They also decided to start summer vacation of the university from May 5 that was actually scheduled to begin from June 1.
The Syndicate also formed a three-member probe committee to investigate Wednesday evening's assault incident.
The agitating teachers, however, vowed to continue their demonstrations to press home their demands. They gave a 10-day ultimatum to the VC to resign. Prof Nasim Akhter Hossain, convenor of Shikkhak Samaj, announced the ultimatum at a press conference yesterday on the campus.
“We will go for tougher movement if the VC does not resign within 10 days,” she said adding that the university administration was starting the summer vacation earlier than scheduled to save the VC.
They claimed that BCL activists sabotaged their demonstration with the consent of the VC, who supports them for his protection.
Prof Farhad Hossain, pro-VC of the university, told The Daily Star that the administration did not take any step against the activists who vandalised the stage as nobody complained about the incident.
Responding to a query on early summer vacation, the Pro-VC said the Syndicate made the decision considering the overall situation on campus.
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