Jahangirnagar University shuts as BCL ‘uprising’ liberates VC Farzana from siege

Jahangirnagar University has shut down for an indefinite period after activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League attacked protesters who demanded Vice-Chancellor Professor Farzana Islam resign.

An overnight siege to the VC’s residence on the campus following a week of protests against alleged corruption and irregularities in the administration led to a scuffle when teachers loyal to Prof Farzana tried to enter the house on Tuesday morning breaking the siege.

Later in the afternoon, a group of BCL activists backed by some teachers who are known to be followers of the VC attacked the protesters, injuring at least 25 teachers and students.

Prof Farzana left home after half an hour and thanked her colleagues and BCL activists for the “uprising” at her office.

“The administrative building has opened. The university will continue as usual from now on,” she said.

After another half an hour, she called an emergency meeting of the syndicate which decided to shut the university down.

Students had been ordered to leave their halls of residence by 5:30pm on Tuesday, according to JU’s Acting Registrar Rahima Kaneez.

"The decision has been taken at an urgent syndicate meeting on the wake of the prevailing situation,” she told bdnews24.com.

The protesters, however, continued protests outside the VC’s residence denying the authorities’ order to leave the halls.

They took out processions from the halls after 8pm and broke the locks of the halls for female students as the women protesters wanted to enter their halls.

Over 200 students took position outside the VC’s house around 10:30pm and said they would leave until after she resigns.

A huge number of police have been deployed there.

In the evening, Jahangirnagar University Teachers’ Association General Secretary Prof Md Sohel Rana, Treasurer Prof Monwar Hossain Tuhin, and executive members Prof Mahbub Kabir and Prof Sayeed Ferdous resigned from the organisation in protest at the attack.

“We are shocked at the partisan role played by the association,” Sohel Rana said.

“UNPRECEDENTED BCL ATTACK ON TEACHERS”

At least 25 teachers and students were injured in the attacks launched by BCL activists on Tuesday during the protests in front of the VC’s residence. They also assaulted four journalists.

Of the injured, eight were taken to Savar’s Enam Medical College and Hospital, and the others received first-aid at the university’s medical centre, according to Dr Rezawanur Rahman of the centre.

Prof Sayeed Ferdous and Prof Mirza Taslima Sultana, both teachers of anthropology, Prof Raihan Raine of philosophy, Prof Abdur Razzak of zoology, Assistant Professor Khandakar Hasan Mahmud of geography and environment, Prof Shamima Sultana of Bangla Department were among the injured teachers.

The injured students were Maruf Mozammel, Mahathir Muhammad, Saimum Islam, Rakibul Islam Rony and Alif Mahmud, Rudro Nil and Soumik Bagchi.

The student protesters massed in front of the VC’s residence around 7pm on Monday, demanding her resignation over allegations of corruption.

The clash erupted at 11:15pm on Tuesday when teachers and staff loyal to the VC came to her house. Later, a procession led by the BCL unit’s President Jewel Rana arrived on the scene amid simmering tensions.

The BCL activists roughed up the protesters and drove them away, but police allegedly only watched.

"Chhatra League attacked us in the presence of teachers loyal to the vice-chancellor. This is an unprecedented attack by the Chhatra League on teachers. When the Chhatra League launched the attack on us, these teachers applauded,” said Prof Khobir Uddin, a teacher of anthropology.

Asked about the attack, Rana alleged that the students who launched protests against the VC are Islami Chhatra Shibir activists. “We want a Shibir-free campus.”

But Prof Raihan dismissed Rana’s allegations. He said, “There is no involvement of Shibir in the protest. It’s a common tendency to blame Shibir to thwart any protest. BUET's Abrar (Fahad) was killed in a similar manner, and they also made a similar excuse.”

Many of the protesters injured in the attacks are familiar faces of leftist politics on the campus, he said.

Hours after the incident, VC Farzana Islam said: “What has happened cannot be called an attack. They were just physically injured. They also pushed our girls and teachers. We were shocked that they hurled invectives at us.”

Asked to comment on the Jamaat-e-Islami's links to the protest, she said: “I won’t probe the matter alone. The government should also investigate the matter.”

The agitated students have been demonstrating on the campus since August, demanding a judicial probe into the allegations of corruption and irregularities that took place before the approval of some construction projects of the university.