Ruckus in RU over new BCL committee

A section of leaders of the Chhatra League unit in Rajshahi University demonstrated on campus yesterday demanding dissolution of its newly-announced committee.

The protesters alleged that some of the new leaders are controversial and have no support of the grassroot. They declared them persona non grata, and threatened to resist their entry into the campus.

After a seven-year break, the central BCL announced the new committee of RU unit BCL on Saturday, naming Mostafijur Rahman Babu as president and Assadullah Al Galib as general secretary.

The protesters staged a showdown with motorcycles and chanted slogans demanding a fresh committee, while some others blocked the entry points of the campus.

At least 10 crude bomb explosions were also heard from different areas of the campus around 7:00pm.

Contacted, RU Proctor Asabul Haque said the situation is under control.

At least 10 of the 39 members of the committee joined the protests.

Tawhidul Islam Durjoy, who was made a vice-president of the new committee, said, "The newly made president has been inactive on the campus since 2019, while the secretary is a dropout and married."

"They (new leaders) must have hidden their information while they applied," said Shahinul Islam Sarker Don, another vice-president of the new committee.

One of the committee post-bearers was earlier expelled from the campus, he added.

Contacted, Mostafijur Rahman Babu, said, "We're in Dhaka now. We will come to the campus soon. Those who are protesting now will understand the reality."

He pointed out that the central leaders chose them in consultation with the Rajshahi city mayor AHM Khairuzzaman Liton, also a presidium member of Awami League.

The roles and sacrifices of many leaders were not taken into consideration while choosing the committee post-bearers, said Md Shamim Hossain, who was made a joint general secretary in the committee.

"We may make mistakes and we have a system to rectify it," said Sheikh Wali Asif Enan, central BCL general secretary.

"But we will not tolerate anyone creating chaos on campus in the name of protest," he added.