Dhaka University dormitory expels three students for spreading anti-government propaganda: VC

Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Professor Md Akhtaruzzaman said three female students have been expelled from a dormitory as they were involved in spreading anti-government propaganda on Facebook.

Dhaka University Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 20 April 2018, 10:28 AM
Updated : 20 April 2018, 10:29 AM

He came out with his explanation hours after the allegation of harassing students in the name of investigating the reported abuses of quota protesters.

“Three students of Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall guilty of spreading misinformation have been handed over to their guardians,” said Akhtaruzzaman, backing the hall authorities’ expulsion order.

“They have done the right thing.”    

The students have been forced out of their dormitory in the middle of Thursday night. One of the three students has been allowed to stay in the dormitory overnight, however.

In response to the DU authorities’ action, quota reform protesters who identify themselves as defenders of student rights were scheduled to bring out rallies at 4pm Friday in Dhaka and elsewhere.

“What they have done is a threat to the hall’s security, will destabilise the university as well as the state, and the hall authorities will be held accountable for that,” Akhtaruzzaman said justifying the expulsion of the students from the hall.

 “We have done this to bring discipline to the dormitory. It is the duty of the hall authorities.”

The DU authorities launched the probe into the incident that occurred on Apr 10 when quota protesters burst into protests against Iffat Jahan Isha, a leader of the ruling Awami League’s student wing, for her alleged assaults on several quota protesters.

Students said the harassment stemmed from an interrogation over their Facebook posts about Isha’s alleged assaults.

Following the incident, DU Proctor Prof Golam Rabban decided to temporarily expel Isha.

Later, the DU authorities withdrew the expulsion order claiming that the probe panel found no evidence of Isha’s involvement in assaults on her fellow students.

The university instead decided to take disciplinary action against 26 female students of the hall over the incident.

Then, the university started interrogating those students amid allegations of intimidation to extract confessions from them.

Moreover, the university authorities summoned the guardians of some students in the middle of the night, further angering the protesters.