SUST teachers’ faction abstains from work in protest against attack by BCL activists

A faction of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) teachers put on black badges and stayed away from work in protest against an attack on them by Chhatra League activists on Sunday. 

SUST Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 31 August 2015, 12:03 PM
Updated : 2 Sept 2015, 12:25 PM

The members of ‘Mohan Muktijuddher Chetanay Udbuddha Shikshak Parishad’, a body of pro-government teachers, did not take classes until noon on Monday. The final exams were, however, kept outside the protest purview.
 
The teachers also walked round the campus in a silent procession. The march set off from the teachers’ cafeteria around 11am, ending in front of the vice-chancellor’s (VC) residence.
 
On Sunday, the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists had assaulted the teachers on a sit-in against the VC, Aminul Haque Bhuiyan.
 
The teachers alleged Bhuiyan had instigated the attack.
 
Bhuiyan made no bones about standing the by the attackers, saying the students had come on their own to protect the university’s academic environment.
 
The SUST unit of the ruling Awami League’s student affiliate, the BCL, had denied any organisational decision to foil the teachers’ movement.
 
The incident triggered a show of indignation anger in the social media.
 
During the scuffle in front of the SUST’s administrative building on Sunday, Physics teacher Yasmin Haque fell on the ground. A BCL activist was seen kicking another teacher.
 

Computer Science and Engineering teacher Zafar Iqbal, also Yasmeen Haque’s husband, sat alone in a show of protest on Sunday in the university’s roundabout, some ten yards away from the site where the teachers were manhandled.
A popular science fiction writer, Iqbal joined the teachers’ protest rally on Monday.  
“I did not physically join the protests, but I have always supported it. 
"One of my students had told me once that I am the only person in Bangladesh who is not liked by the BNP, Jamaat, Jatiya Party, Hifazat, Awami League and leftist organisations. There will be problems wherever I am present. That’s why I did not join the protests in person,” he told the teachers’ rally.
“But it would be unfair, if I do not join after what we witnessed yesterday (Sunday). I have seen a lot in my lifetime but never imagined witnessing something like this.”
Disappointed over the Sunday’s incident, he said: “I apologise to all, for we have raised some students here at this university who can be used for manhandling teachers.”
Meanwhile, the SUST students also formed a human chain in protest on Monday in front of the university’s central library. They demanded those responsible for the attack on teachers must be brought to justice.