C T Online Desk: With a crisis over the students’ agitation demanding the resignation of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (Sust) Vice Chancellor Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed deepening, the protesters disconnected the power connection to the VC’s residence on Sunday evening.
The students were not allowing anyone but law enforcement officials and journalists to enter the residence.
After barricading the VC’s residence from the outside world, protesting students told reporters that they were forced to lay siege to the VC’s house as there was no news of the VC resigning from his post.
In a meeting with the agitating students early Sunday, Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni requested them to call off their hunger strike at a discussion via videoconferencing.
In response, the students had said they would contact her again later in the day after making a decision.
However, the follow-up virtual meeting between the education minister and the agitators did not take place on Sunday.
Ministry sources said they believe that there was no point of discussion when students are fixed on their demands.
Meanwhile, the Teachers’ Association of the university has sought the government’s inference to reach a resolution soon.
They said the government should take any steps, including resignation of the VC, so that the students can return to their normal life, the organization’s President Prof Dr Tulshi Kumar Das briefed the media about their decisions on Sunday night.
They also urged the students not to get involved in any violence and demanded a neutral probe body to investigate the police action on January 16.
The students torched an effigy of the VC later in the night as they continued their protest.
The agitating students said that 16 out of the 23 students observing a hunger strike for over 96 hours were admitted to different hospitals as they fell ill.
No solution in meeting with the minister
On Sunday, during the hour-long video call, the students briefed Dipu Moni on the situation on the campus. The minister then assured them of addressing every issue gradually, before urging them to halt their fast-unto-death. She asked them to post their demands in writing.
The protesters at a separate press briefing said the education minister told them that it will take some time to resolve all the issues.
They said they told the minister that the hunger strike will not be called off until all their demands are met, and that another virtual meeting is scheduled for the afternoon.
The protesters told Dhaka Tribune last night that they prepared all documents and demands in writing but the minister did not sit with them or not yet received their written demand and complaint.
But the protester came to know through Awami League’s Mymensingh unit Organizing Secretary Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel that the minister said as the students are adamant and will not hear anything until the VC resigns, the further discussion’s result ultimately will be zero, they claimed.
Shafiul Alam Chowdhury Nadel has been communicating with the students as a messenger.
DU students express support for protesting Sust students
A group of students of the University of Dhaka staged a rally in front of Raju Memorial Sculpture on Sunday in solidarity with the movement.
Some 20-25 students joined the rally around 4pm demanding the removal of Sust Vice Chancellor Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed.
In another event, Nagorik Oikya Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna bemoaned that even a university vice-chancellor does not have the guts to step down without the government permission due to the degradation of values in the education sector.
Meanwhile, a panel of pro-Awami League teachers at Sust issued a 24-hour ultimatum seeking the resignation of those responsible for the situation and a formal explanation for the police crackdown on students.
In a statement, issued on Saturday night Professor Mohammad Mastabur Rahman, convenor of the pro-Awami League teachers panel said that despite the efforts made at various stages to overcome the ongoing crisis from the beginning, the lives of the students on hunger strike are now in danger.
The Sust students began their demonstration on January 13, demanding the resignation of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury Hall Provost Zafrin Ahmed.
Zafrin, who had been accused of misbehaving with some students, resigned from her post, citing health issues in the face of protests.
Her removal as provost of the residential hall for female students was one of the principal demands of the students protesting on the campus.
However, students continued their protests after police charged batons and fired rubber bullets at them on January 16.
On January 18, they wrote an open letter to President Abdul Hamid, also the chancellor, demanding the immediate removal of the VC.
Meanwhile, the VC is also being criticized for his abusive and vulgar remarks about the female students of Jahangirnagar University as heard in a leaked audio.
