The leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) allegedly assaulted some quota movement activists and teachers of Dhaka University again on Sunday and foiled their human chain at the Central Shaheed Minar premises.
The BCL leaders and activists swooped on them and physically assaulted six quota protesters and three teachers when they formed a human chain around 12 noon demanding immediate release of the arrested quota movement leaders and punishment of attackers, said witnesses.
The three teachers are Professor Fahmidul Haq and Associate Professor Abdur Razzaque Khan of Mass Communication and Journalism Department and Associate Professor Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan of International Relations Department.
Talking to UNB, Prof Abdur Razzaque Khan said, “There is no security for both the teachers and the students on the campus now. General people have no right to stage protest.”
Contacted, BCL General Secretary SM Jakir Hossain denied involvement of any BCL leaders and activists in the attack. He claimed it to be a clash between two groups of quota protesters. General students and teachers of the university, however, said there is no basis of such claim as there is no rift among the quota reform activities.
Associate Professor Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan of International Relations Department in his Facebook post said, no teacher and student is safe in the university as some teachers, who have lost their humanity, are in administrative leadership.
Prof Tanzim also claimed in the post that five of the BCL activists followed him to his residence and one of them continuously clicked pictures of the professor.
Proctor Prof Golam Rabbani told him that they cannot do whatever they wish along with the general students and asked Prof Tanzimuddin why they went to the Shahid Minar without the permission of the Proctorial body, wrote the professor in his status.
In another Facebook post, Fahmidul Haq, Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism Department, gave a firsthand description of the incidents those took place at the Shahid Minar.
As soon as the teachers-students protest programme started, some BCL members started giving speeches and creating noises using mike within a few meters. They continued these as long as the protesting teachers and students were delivering their speeches, he said.
When the protest programme came to an end, they started attacking the students leaving some of the journalists injured.
“No one from the proctorial team was there, not even a single police. Everything was kept insecure so that BCL could attack the students,” he wrote.
When contacted, the assistant proctor said, if the situation gets worse, then the teachers will remain responsible for that as they didn’t inform the proctorial team about the programme.
In April, students of public and private universities across the country waged a strong movement demanding reforms in the quota system in public service recruitment process.
In the face of the movement, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced in parliament on April 11 the abolition of all types of quotas in public jobs.
As no gazette notification has so far been issued regarding the abolishment of the quota system as per the PM’s declaration, the leaders and activists of Bangladesh General Students’ Rights Protection Council, a platform that leads the quota reform movement, resumed their protests at different public universities and they repeatedly came under attacksallegedly by BCL men.
Amid the movement, the Prime Minister on Thursday in parliament said that it is not possible to change freedom fighters’ quota in public jobs due to a High Court verdict.
source:UNB
