RU Press Club sealed to free it from Shibir

24 April 2009, 18:00 PM

RU Correspondent

Rajshahi University (RU) authorities yesterday locked RU Press Club as a step to free it from the control of Shibir men. After the incident, pro-Shibir journalists staged a big showdown along with outsider Shibir cadres, creating a tense situation on the campus. Earlier, RU authorities took initiative to identify real and fake journalists on the campus. Following the initiatives, a group of pro-Shibir journalists of RU on April 13 verbally abused university Proctor Prof Zakaria and threatened to paralyse the institution if he takes any initiative for reform in the RU Press Club. Campus sources said, on Friday morning, University proctorial body members led by Prof Zakaria locked and sealed the RU Press Club in presence of RU teachers, high officials and working journalists at the university. “Only the real journalists can sit at the press club. It is not a political organisation,” RU Proctor Prof Zakaria said when asked about the initiative. Earlier on March 1, working journalists at RU submitted separate memorandum to the university vice chancellor, pro-vice chancellor, treasurer, registrar, student adviser and proctor demanding immediate steps to free RU Press Club from the grip of Jamaat-Shibir men. Meanwhile, on April 18, RU Public Relation Office and proctor's office jointly took an initiative to reform the university press club. As part of arrangement to hold an election to the press club soon, they also published a voter list of real journalists on the campus, sources said. A large number of police were deployed on the campus to avoid further incident. Following BNP-Jamaat government's coming to power in 2001, a group of journalists loyal to Shibir captured the RU Press Club.