Hindu students fed beef at Dhaka University fine arts faculty

Hindu students of Dhaka University's Faculty of Fine Arts have allegedly been tricked into eating beef, creating tension before the 'Mangal Shobhajatra' procession.

Agitated students vandalised the canteen and beat up its leaseholder, Zakir Hossain, who admitted to making 'Tehari', a popular food item made of rice and meat, with beef.

University Proctor Amzad Ali later came and calmed the students. He said Zakir's lease would be cancelled. Zakir has been running the canteen for a few months.

The students who worked overnight to prepare for the procession ordered the 'Tehari' for breakfast.

One of them told bdnews24.com: "Beef never enters our canteen. No one knew that there was beef in the Tehari. We sensed after eating that it was beef. Zakir admitted to making the Tehari with beef."

A former student said beef is not allowed in the canteen considering the fact that it is banned for Hindus.

He suspects the incident was aimed at creating disorder before the procession.

Faculty Dean Nisar Hossain too expressed a similar suspicion. He termed the incident 'unfortunate' and said it would be investigated. "It seems that there is some evil motive behind it," he said.

"We heard that there was a conspiracy to thwart the 'Mangal Shobhajatra'. But the good news is that the procession ended peacefully," he added.

bdnews24.com could not reach Zakir. Proctor Amzad said the leaseholder told the authorities that he had not known about the rule.