RU Shibir stages showdown, blocks highway

18 April 2009, 18:00 PM

RU Correspondent

Activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir and their parent organisation Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday staged demonstration on Rajshahi University (RU) campus and blocked Dhaka-Rajshahi highway near Binodpur Bazar, creating panic among local people and traders. A large number of outsiders including students of schools, colleges and madrasas also joined the Jamaat-Shibir procession in the evening and chanted slogans against Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and Awami League, witnesses said. As the Shibir men blocked Dhaka-Rajshahi highway and held their programme in presence of police, movement of vehicles suspended there. At a rally, Shibir leaders demanded arrest of the killers of RU Shibir Secretary Sharifuzzaman Nomani before reopening the Rajshahi University. They alleged that Rajshahi City Corporation mayor led the killing and he did not want reopening of the university. They threatened to 'make grave' for those who would try to oust Shibir from the campus. Jamaat leader Siddik Hossain, Shibir RU unit President Delwar Hossain Saidy, Secretary Shamsul Alam Golap, city unit President Nur Mohammed Mondol addressed the meeting, among others. Earlier on March 13, the RU authorities closed the university indefinitely following a clash between BCL and Shibir that left Shibir leader Nomani killed and 100 others from the two groups injured.