Begum Rokeya University
Teachers, students intensify agitation for VC's removal
Students of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur burn the effigy of Vice Chancellor Abdul Jalil Miah on the campus yesterday as the learners along with their teachers have continued agitation to press for their demands including his resignation by Saturday. Photo: STAR
Teachers and students of Begum Rokeya University in Rangpur have intensified their joint agitation demanding resignation of the vice chancellor within Saturday. Hundreds of teachers and students observed a token mass hunger strike and formed a human chain under the banner of 'Durniti Birodhi Mancha,' a joint platform of teachers and students of the university, in front of the administrative building from 10:00am to 12:00am yesterday. They burnt the effigy of the VC at the spot. Dr Hafizur Rahman Selim, president of Sochetan Shikkhak Samaj, teachers Dr Motiur Rahman, Dr Tuhin Wadud and Omar Faruk, students Shamiul Wakil Moon and Ariful Islam Arif spoke at the programme, among others. They warned of a hunger strike unto death if the VC does not resign from his post within Saturday. Meanwhile, Dr Muhammad Abdul Jalil Miah, vice chancellor of Begum Rokeya University, went to Dhaka on Tuesday night following a call by the education minister, university sources said. Earlier on Tuesday, teachers and students of the university staged a sit-in in front of the administrative building from 9:00am to 3:00pm demanding the VC's resignation. Four crude bombs were blasted during the sit-in programme, creating a tense situation at the campus. To press for their demand to open all the dormitories, set up a permanent hospital at the campus, make the university library functional, and arrange more buses to ease transport, students of the university started boycotting their classes and examinations on Saturday. The teachers of the university under the banner of 'Sochetan Shikkhak Samaj' also went on an indefinite strike on Sunday demanding resignation of the VC. Meanwhile, some leaders of ruling Awami League-led 14-party alliance arranged a meeting with the students and teachers of the university at its academic building in presence of the VC and other officials on Tuesday but the four-hour-long meeting ended at 8:30pm without any result. A large number of policemen have been deployed at the university campus to avert any unwanted situation there, said Altaf Hossain, officer in charge of Rangpur Kotwali Police Station.
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