Editorial
BUET turmoil
VC's obstinacy unacceptable
It is indeed worrying that the turmoil in BUET that has been going on for five months has not yet been solved, and is, in fact, getting more complicated by the day. Although in keeping with the High Court order the teachers had suspended their agitation programmes classes have not resumed and procession and sit-ins by the students still continue.
The point at issue is the credibility of the VC against whom the teachers have brought as many as sixteen allegations related to corruption of various natures including tampering with mark sheets. And one wonders how an objective enquiry against the head of the institution to ascertain the truth can be launched with him being in office.
We also notice with great deal of consternation the infusion of violence with the induction of BCL cadres who couldn't have gone on an offensive posture, we believe, without the sponsorship of the authorities. Filing of two cases by the security officer of BUET against a large number of unnamed teachers and students, for ransacking the VC office, has compounded the situation further.
We find it hard to rationalise the inertia of the government, particularly the education ministry, to find a solution of the matter that has virtually reached a crisis point. Regrettably, there has been no palpable action on the part of the ministry, except for articulation of hope, to address the root cause of the crisis.
We are also dismayed by the obstinacy of the VC and his deputy, whose stubbornness has held the premier institution of the country and the thousand of students hostage since April of this year. We have said in the past and reiterate once again that the VC is not merely a person. He holds an exalted position that largely rests on his credibility as an administrator and the confidence he enjoys of the teachers and the students. There is very little doubt in our minds that he has lost both and has thus forfeited the moral ground to remain in his position.
We do not see of any other way that might resolve the impasse, but for the VC and his deputy to go. And this the VC and the minister of education must understand. It is perhaps time too that the prime minister intervened to save BUET from considerable damage which the continuing situation is bound to inflict.
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