Sylhet's Shahjalal University students to continue anti-VC protests

Students at Sylhet's Shahjalal University of Science and Technology say they will press ahead with their protests to force Vice-Chancellor Farid Uddin Ahmed to resign.

The students made the announcement at a news conference on the campus on Friday afternoon.

Six students of the physics department including Mohaimanul Bashar Raz, Abdullah Ar Rafi and Samiul Ehsan Shafin, attended it.

They will organise cultural activities and road paintings as part of the demonstration and have invited Education Minister Dipu Moni to visit the university to discuss their demands and other issues.

At the beginning, Safin thanked Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for taking care of the medical expenses of those injured in the Jan 16 police attack and those who went on a hunger strike.

"We’re eagerly waiting for the education minister to come to our campus for discussion."

Students had begun protests earlier this month to demand the resignation of Zafrin Ahmed Liza, provost of Shahjalal University’s Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury Hall, for misbehaving with students.

Though the provost was eventually removed, students have continued their campaign to press for the resignation of Farid Uddin after police used batons, tear shells and stun grenades to break up a protest, injuring at least 50 people in the process.

Police charged 200-300 unnamed students in a case last week over the protesters’ clash with law enforcers. Later, the students launched a hunger strike to push for the removal of the VC and the dismissal of the case against protesters.

Seven days later, the hunger strike was broken by popular writer Mohammed Zafar Iqbal, a former professor of the university, and his wife Yasmin Haque who also taught there.