New group shows up, wants judicial probe

Students, teachers, and employees of Buet bring out a procession on campus yesterday demanding the resignation of the vice-chancellor of the university.Photo: STAR

The Buet crisis took a new turn as a group of teachers, students and employees of the university yesterday termed illogical the ongoing movement of the teachers association against the vice-chancellor.
A new forum, holding a press conference at the university cafeteria in the afternoon, urged the agitating teachers and students to call off their movement and go back to the classroom.
They alleged that the Buet Teachers Association had incited students into joining the agitation for the removal of the vice-chancellor and his deputy.
Prof Dr Munaz Ahmed Noor, a teacher of the civil engineering department and also spokesman of the forum, told The Daily Star that the forum members had urged the chancellor to form a judicial commission to investigate the allegations the association had brought against the VC.
"We don't want to term a person guilty before inquiry. If the Buet VC and pro-VC are found guilty, they should step down," he said, calling the movement “illogical”.
The Buet Teachers, Students and Employees Forum, a 300-member group to which he belongs, does not support suspending academic activities in the name of agitation, he added.
"We are neither in favour of the VC nor against him. We are here to speak publicly on moral grounds because we want to see a congenial atmosphere at Buet," said Prof Munaz, himself a two-time general secretary of the teachers association.
Meanwhile, the agitating teachers, students and employees continued their sit-in for the fourth day yesterday, demanding the removal of VC Prof SM Nazrul Islam and Pro-VC Prof Habibur Rahman.
They marched across the campus in a silent procession starting from the Buet Council Building at 11:00am. They went to the Central Shaheed Minar and vowed to continue their movement until the demands were met.
A section of Buet staff also brought out a procession in the morning under the banner of Buet Employees Association.
Students launched a website to draw the attention of former Buet students living abroad and a mass signature campaign to strengthen their movement.
Prof SM Nazrul Islam still could not sit with the agitating teachers, although Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at a Gono Bhaban meeting on Thursday asked him to reach a settlement through talks.
Contacted, Prof Nazrul told The Daily Star he had proposed that the agitating teachers and others sit together to arrive at a solution to the crisis. He said the university authorities would also hold discussions with the chancellor soon to bring about an end to the crisis.
The Buet Teachers Association, which is spearheading the demonstrations, said it had rejected a letter sent from the VC proposing discussions.
“There is no scope now to sit with those against whom we are agitating,” Prof Ashraful Islam, general secretary of the teachers association, told The Daily Star last evening.
About the new forum's terming the movement illogical, he said those who had benefited from the irregularities of the VC and pro-VC were making such statements.
Since April 7, the association has been staging protests demanding the resignation of the two top administration bosses. It has levelled 16 allegations against them, among which are the appointment of the pro-VC and a deputy registrar on “political consideration”.
The agitating teachers returned to the classrooms on May 5 on the prime minister's assurance of resolving the problems.
On Wednesday, they again started demonstrating and 25 heads of faculties, departments and institutes resigned en masse as the VC and pro-VC refused to quit. The university declared a 44-day vacation from the same day.
The movement gained momentum with the joining of students and staff.