Teachers loyal to VC ‘threaten’ student protesters at Bangabandhu University

Teachers who support Vice-Chancellor Khondoker Md Nasiruddin of Bangabandhu University in Gopalganj have allegedly threatened students demanding his resignation.

The allegation surfaced as protests continued for the fourth day on Sunday at the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University or BSMRSTU.

The protesters alleged the teachers asked the students to stop demonstration or else the teachers will hold back the students’ certificates.

The teachers also threatened the students to “wait until resumption of classes and exams”, according to the protesters.

VC Nasiruddin, however, has denied the allegation that teachers loyal to him threatened the protesters.

“There is no scope for this,” he told bdnews24.com.

He also said the authorities were trying to find a peaceful solution to the problem.

Protests erupted at the university after Fatema Tuz Zinia, a second-year student of law department and a reporter of a daily, was suspended over a Facebook post on Sept 11.

The university authorities later withdrew the suspension order amid widespread protests and criticism.

However, a group of students continued to protest on the campus calling for the VC’s resignation for alleged irregularities and corruption.

Protesters claimed that the food deliveries to the hostels were suspended from Friday night while electricity and water supply were cut from Saturday morning.

They were later attacked by outsiders leaving at least 20 injured, they said.

The authorities denied the allegations and shut the university until Oct 3 on Saturday.

The students on Sunday continued the demonstration on the campus on Sunday, calling for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention to resolve the issue.

Gopalganj District Awami League President and District Council Chairman Chowdhury Emdadul Haque and the ruling party unit’s General Secretary Mahbub Ali Khan visited the campus and expressed solidarity with the protesters.

They urged the students to withdraw the protests until a decision is made when Hasina returns home from abroad.

Local leaders of the Awami League and its student front Bangladesh Chhatra League were also present.

The protesters denied the call and announced to continue demonstration.

One of the protesters, Samrat Biswas said he and three others were the first to be expelled for three years in 2016 and VC Nasiruddin behaved roughly with their guardians when they went to speak to him. The students later had the suspension withdrawn following a High Court order.

Samrat alleged a student named Arghya Biswas had died by suicide after the VC had insulted his parents over his failure to attend classes due to illness.

“This autocratic VC has turned the university into a factory of corruption, irregularities, torture and looting. He expels students every now and then,” Samrat said.

The allegations against the VC also include irregularities in spending the fund for student welfare. Each student pays Tk 2,000 per semester into the fund.

Assistant Proctor Humayun Kabir, who resigned in protest against the attack on the students, said: “The fund is a good one, but the ways of spending it are unacceptable. The VC spends the fund as he pleases.”   

The authorities provided 365 people with around Tk 7.2 million from the fund between Mar 12 last year and July 19 this year.

The recipients include two teachers.    

In one of the accounts, the university said it spent Tk 40,000 to provide refreshment to students during a fight with villagers on Aug 9 last year, over Tk 18,000 to repair motorcycles damaged in another clash on May 28 this year, and Tk 100,000 to run cases over the clashes.