Students set 48-hour deadline to turn Titumir College into university

They warn of blocking roads and railways in Mohakhali again from Thursday if the demand goes unmet

Students have given the authorities 48 hours to turn the Government Titumir College in Dhaka into a university and form an administrative structure following the transition.

Otherwise, they threatened to block roads and railways in Mohakhali again from Thursday.

They also announced plans to enforce the “Shut Down Titumir” programme by halting the college’s classes and exams from Tuesday morning until the state recognition of the university.

The decisions were made on Monday night at a meeting convened by “Titumir Oikya”, the platform of the movement to transform the college into a university.

Aminul Islam, a third-year mathematics student who is one of the leaders of the movement, told bdnews24.com at 1am: “The affiliation of seven colleges to Dhaka University has been cancelled in the wake of the student movement. The colleges are now left without guardianship. However, we are adamant on our demand to convert Titumir College into a university.”

After months of protests and sit-ins demanding an independent university, the students hoisted a banner reading "Titumir University" at the main gate of the educational institution on Jan 7.

Earlier, the education ministry formed a five-strong committee to examine the feasibility of transforming the college into a university on Dec 5 last year.

However, the students alleged that the committee was not functioning “properly”.