Our Correspondent . Rajshahi
Five more educational institutions in Rajshahi were on Saturday closed for an indefinite period after the authorities closed the University of Rajshahi, Rajshahi Medical College and Rajshahi College on Friday.
Earlier, the authorities Friday afternoon closed Rajshahi University for an indefinite period as Islami Chhatra Shibir activists clashed with Bangladesh Chhatra League activists and local people on the campus in which one was killed and at least 50 were injured.
Rajshahi Medical College and Rajshahi College were closed on the day as the authorities feared fallout of the clashes taking place on the university campus. The authorities of the three institutions also vacated the residence halls and hostels.
The university unit Shibir general secretary, Sharifuzzaman Nomani, died in Rajshahi Medical College Hospital just after noon after he had been wounded in a clash between the activists of Shibir, Jamaat-e-Islami’s associate body of students, and the Bangladesh Chhatra League, the Awami League’s associate body of students.
The institutions that were closed on Saturday are Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology, Government New Degree College, Rajshahi Government City College, Polytechnic Institute and the Institute of Health Technology.
The syndicate of Rajshahi University which met Saturday evening said it would request the government to conduct a judicial inquiry into the killing of Nomani and the clashes.
It will also try to reopen the campus and resume classes at the earliest. The syndicate also offered condolences on the death of Nomani and expressed sympathy with the students who were injured.
In the Rajshahi engineering university, an emergency syndicate meeting decided to close the institution for an indefinite period. The authorities also asked male students to vacate their halls by 5:30pm Saturday and female students by 10:00am Sunday.
The university vice-chancellor, Fazlul Bari, said ‘We have closed the university to fend off further troubles in the wake of Friday’s clashes in Rajshahi University.’
In the Government New Degree College, all residential students left their hostels by 10:00am, as asked by the authorities.
Government City College students left their hostels by 4:00pm after the authorities decided the closure of the institution Friday night.
The Polytechnic Institute asked the students to vacate their hostels by 9:00am Saturday. The authorities are yet to postpone the examinations scheduled for March 15.
‘We have only vacated the hostels, but the examinations scheduled for March 15 will be held,’ the acting principal Moazzem Hossain said.
The Institute of Health Technology was also closed for an indefinite period.
Classes were, meanwhile, suspended in Chapainawabganj College for three days till Monday, according to the United News of Bangladesh. The authorities decided the suspension of classes to stave off clashes in the wake of the Rajshahi University incident.
The Rajshahi University unit Islami Chhatra Shibir, Farhad Alam, filed a murder case accusing 32 BCL leaders and activists. Twenty-seven of the accused were named. Chhatra Shibir was preparing to file more cases, said Farhad Alam.
The accused include the university unit Chhatra League president, Ibrahim Hossain Moon, Depayan Sarker Deep, cultural secretary Awal Kabir Joy and law affairs secretary Arifuzzaman Rony.
The Motihar police officer-in-charge, Rafiqul Islam Khan, said, ‘Subinspector Raqibul Haque will investigate the case.’
Thirty-nine of the 74 Shibir activists, including 13 who were not students of the university, arrested at halls Thursday night in a case filed by the university unit Chhatra League were shown arrested on Saturday. They were produced in court which sent them to jail custody. Others were released.
The Chhatra League unit’s president Ibrahim Hossain Moon filed the case against 400 to 500 Shibir and Jamaat activists of attacking Chhatra League leaders, vandalising their rooms in the halls and using explosives. One hundred and sixty-four of the accused were named.
The Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner and the deputy commissioner visited the university on Saturday and they held a meeting there.
Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir in separate statements Friday night blamed the Chhatra League and the police for the killing of Nomani and demanded arrest and punishment of the Chhatra League activists who killed Nomani and attacked Shibir activists. Shibir also demanded that classes and examinations should be resumed at the earliest.
After the second namaz-e-janaza of Nomani at Phulbaria in Mymensingh, he was buried in the family graveyard on Saturday, sources said. His first namaz-e-janaza was held at Rajshahi Medical College Friday evening.
The Progressive Teachers’ Society in Rajshahi University in a statement on Saturday demanded that immediate action should be taken against the people responsible for Friday’s clashes.
‘We demand immediate action against the people behind Friday’s incident on the campus,’ said the statement, signed by the organisation’s convener Mojaffar Hossain.
Chhatra Leauge, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal Chhatra League, Chhatra Front and Chhatra Union in separate statements on Saturday blamed Chhatra Shibir for Friday’s clash. They also demanded a ban on the politics of Shibir on educational campuses.
The Rajshahi city unit Shibir brought out a procession in the afternoon protesting at the killing of Nomani and attack on Shibir activists in the university. Police deployment in the city was reinforced.
Courtesy of NewAgebd
