The agitating BUET students laid siege to the Vice Chancellor's residence for two hours on Saturday, the first day of resumption of their movement demanding his and the Pro-Vice Chancellor's ouster.
Published : 01 Sep 2012, 11:00 AM
The agitating BUET students laid siege to the Vice Chancellor's residence for two hours on Saturday, the first day of resumption of their movement demanding his and the Pro-Vice Chancellor's ouster.
They gheraoed the VC's residence around 1pm and vacated the place around 3pm, vowing to continue their demonstrations on Sunday.
Earlier, they staged an hour-long human chain programme that started around 11am and took out a procession on the campus chanting slogans calling for removal of the BUET stalwarts.
Some teachers' leaders were also seen participating in the demonstration.
BUET Teachers Association Treasurer Ataur Rahman, when asked whether their platform had declared support for the students' movement, told bdnews24.com that they were participating individually in the demonstration.
The teachers' body has been carrying on its movement without making any public declaration since the High Court on Aug 14 issued a ruling questioning their agitation.
The demonstrating teachers said that they pressed on with their protests on a personal level by skipping classes, without any formal declaration of any protest plan to avoid facing contempt of court charges.
Following the procession of the students, teachers' platform chief Mujibur Rahman, along with his colleagues, met the VC and Pro-VC in their offices. The teachers urged them to step down for the 'sake' of the university.
They responded that that they were appointed by the President and only he could take steps in this regard.
After the VC and Pro-VC left their offices and returned home, thousands of students gathered in front of their residences.
Chhatra League muscles in
A number of activists of the ruling party's student wing also went to the offices of the VC and Pro-VC during the visit by the teachers' platform delegation.
The 'intrusion' by the former members of BUET's disbanded Chhatra League unit including its General Secretary Tonmoy Biswas and Vice-President Palash sparked some excitement.
As journalists tried to take photographs of the interaction, they threatened that if any news or pictures of the altercation were published, then the entry of journalists into the BUET campus would be barred.
BUET in turmoil
Admission tests to the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, known as the best option for engineering studies in Bangladesh, for the 2012-2013 academic sessions has also become uncertain as the protesting teachers have been boycotting classes and other academic activities for more than a month.
The HC ruling on Aug 14 also ordered authorities to start the admission process of the first-year students amid the teachers' protests.
The authorities, on Friday, sent out letters to the teachers ordering them to resume classes and examinations.
The teachers' body had started their halt-work agitation on Apr 7 demanding removal of Vice Chancellor S M Nazrul Islma and Pro-Vice Chancellor Habibur Rahman.
Their movement was halted for a month later based on assurances from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. However, they declared to resume their halt-work programme from July 14 after their demands were not met.
In the wake of the teachers-students' movement, the authorities had advanced the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation to close it on July 10, sparking strong protests from the agitators.
The decision, however, failed to deter the agitations and the teachers kept boycotting the classes, now for 'personal reasons', since the university opened on Aug 25.