BUET students on Saturday gave the university vice-chancellor, SM Nazrul Islam, and the pro-vice-chancellor, Habibur Rahman, till 10:00am today to resign.
They said that they would, otherwise, wage a tough movement to push for the removal of the two top officials of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.
The students, who had confined the vice-chancellor to his house for two hours beginning 1:00pm, also announced that they would form a human chain and bring out a procession this morning to push for their demand.
The students began the fresh agitation after BUET authorities had asked the teachers to take classes.
The teachers have continued to abstain from classes demanding the removal of the vice-chancellor and the pro-vice-chancellor.
Several hundred students earlier formed a human chain, for an hour beginning 11:00am, and brought out a procession on the campus shouting slogans against the two top officials.
The students on Friday decided to attend classes only after the crisis was resolved with the removal of the vice-chancellor and the pro-vice-chancellor for their ‘involvement in irregularities.’
A large number of teachers also joined the programme, expressing their solidarity with the student’s movement.
A group of BUET teachers met the vice-chancellor and the pro vice-chancellor in their office rooms
and requested them to resign immediately ‘to uphold the dignity of the institution.’
Nazrul Islam told the teachers that he would make his next step after holding a talk with the minister concerned.
He declined any comments on the teachers’ request. ‘I will not make any comments right now,’ he said.
When the teachers were in the office of the pro-vice-chancellor, a number of Chhatra League activists also went into the office.
Tanmoy Biswas, the general secretary of the BUET Chhatra League that was disbanded, and Palash, the vice-president, led their followers into the pro-vice-chancellor’s room and it triggered some tension.
The Chhatra League leaders asked journalists and photographers not to publish news or photographs on their entering the pro-vice-chancellor’s office and threatened that if news or photographs were published, journalists would be barred from entering the BUET campus.
The BUET Teachers’ Association general secretary, Ashraful Islam, said that the teachers had joined the agitation individually, not under the banner of the organisation, as there is a High Court injunction against the teachers’ movement.
No classes and academic activities have been held for eight consecutive days as the teachers abstained from taking classes without any formal announcement after the institution reopened after a 44-day closure, which was effected amid protests by the teachers for removal of Nazrul and Habibur.
The vice-chancellor closed the university on July 11 till August 24 triggering protests by teachers, later joined in by students and employees.
On July 11, deans of all the five faculties, heads of all the 17 departments and directors of the three institutes resigned to press for the demand.
The High Court, however, ordered an injunction on July 31 against demonstrations of teachers on the campus and since then the teachers, however, have not announced any fresh programmes.
The university authorities issued a notice to all deans, department heads, teachers and officials concerned asking them to resume classes and to immediately begin the admission process.
Courtesy of New Age
