Edn minister likely to meet demonstrators today
The Jahangirnagar University vice-chancellor, Anwar Hossain, on Friday said that he would resign if the chancellor, President Abdul Hamid, so wanted and his resignation could restore academic atmosphere to the campus. ‘I am the elected vice-chancellor and President Abdul Hamid has appointed me. If he wants, I will resign,’ Anwar told reporters on Friday.A section of university teachers teamed up as ‘General Teachers’ Forum’ kept
Anwar confined to his office for the third day on Friday, pressing for his resignation while two more groups of teachers termed the demand of the General Teachers’ Forum illogical.
Anwar said, ‘Teachers movement against me is contradictory to the democratic perception of the university act.’
The education minister, Nurul Islam Nahid, called an emergency meeting with the teachers on demonstrations today aimed at resolving the campus crisis.
The General Teachers’ Forum general secretary, Kamrul Ahsan, said, ‘A discussion is under way about the matter but no decision has yet been made.’
Anwar on Thursday sent a fax message to the president requesting him to set up an investigation committee.
The teachers on demonstration, meanwhile, announced a three-day strike beginning today.
The teachers said that their programme of laying siege to the vice-chancellor’s office would continue until he resigned as vice-chancellor. But the scheduled examinations, transports and other activities would continue during the programme.
‘If the vice-chancellor does not resign by the time, we will go for tougher programmes,’ Kamrul, dean the arts faculty dean, told reporters.
The General Teachers’ Forum president, Hanif Ali, said, ‘We are rallying for our demand in a democratic way. The crisis can only be resolved with the resignation of the vice-chancellor.’
The forum also issued a statement, signed by 370 teachers, levelling charges against the vice-chancellor.
The charges include no trial of the assault on teachers, freedom fighter’s quota violation, recruitment of incompetent people as teachers, harsh comments against teachers to the media, no steps regarding the violence that took place on August 1 and February 12, ruining the campus environment, misusing university funds, and forcibly entering the vice-chancellor’s office by ignoring the demonstrations of the teachers.
The university employees’ association, meanwhile, gave an ultimatum to the teachers on demonstrations to call of their programme of siege, Abbas Ali Talukdar, the association’s president, told reporters.
Campus sources said that because of teachers’ movements, the ones in the past and the current one, students of 20 departments have been forced to face prolonged academic session by six months to a year.
Sheikh Abu Rowshan, a master’s student of government and politics, said, ‘We started our master’s course in February but no tutorial examinations could be held with only a few classes remaining.’
The students said that they were not getting their results in time and were also facing problems in obtaining certificates.
Four teachers and a student on July 24 filed a writ petition with the High Court, which directed the university authorities to take early steps to continue with academic and administrative activities.
The Jahangirnagar University Teachers’ Association later withdrew its agitation programmes on July 30 on the court order but then the General Teachers’ Forum was set up and the demonstrations continued.
The teachers’ association were demanding the resignation of the vice-chancellor, accusing him of not taking punitive measures against the university unit Chhatra League general secretary Razib Ahmed Rasel for assaulting economics lecturer Nurul Haqu, also a syndicate member, on April 6.
Two other groups of teachers, Shikkhak Mancha and Shadharan Shikkhak, however, sought immediate steps from the university’s chancellor in resolving the campus crisis.
The groups at several press conferences on Thursday said that a portion of teachers were rallying against the vice-chancellor to create a chaos.
Left-leaning student organisation Samajtantrik Chhatra Front also requested the chancellor to resolve the crisis.
The university faced several rounds of movement in the past three years which disrupted academic activities.
Anwar assumed office of the vice-chancellor after his predecessor Sharif Enamul Kabir resigned as the vice-chancellor in the face of protests by students and teachers over ‘irregularities’ and ‘nepotism’ in the appointment of teachers on May 17, 2012.
Anwar was later elected the vice-chancellor through the senate.
-With New Age input
