C T Online Desk: Jahangirnagar University (JU) students have taken opposing stances on the construction of the Fine Arts department building on the campus.
On one side are the students from the Department of Fine Arts, while on the other is a coalition of four platforms: the Odhipotto Birodhi Mancha, the Gonobhutyan Rakhsha Andalan, a faction of the JU unit of the Student Union, and residential students of Shaheed Salam-Barkat Hall.
The incident took place in front of the university’s administrative building, where tensions flared between the groups around 11pm on Monday.
According to students advocating for the construction, they were staging a sit-in demanding the resumption of the building work. When the discussions failed with authorities, they locked the gate of the new administrative building.
Several officials, including Pro-Vice-Chancellors Professor Sohel Ahmed (Administration) and Professor Mahfuzur Rahman (Education), Treasurer Professor Abdur Rob, and Registrar Azizur Rahman, were trapped inside the building.
Vice-Chancellor Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan arrived to talk with the protesting students around 8:3pm.
Later, at around 11pm, another group comprising three platforms opposing the construction began chanting slogans against the project in front of the administrative building. They were later joined by residents of Salam-Barkat Hall.
Their demand was that the construction should not proceed without a master plan.
Following assurances from the Vice-Chancellor to discuss the issue with Fine Arts students on Thursday, the protesting students from the Department of Fine Arts returned to their dormitories at around 11:15pm.
One of the Fine Arts students said: “We have been peacefully protesting since the afternoon, demanding the resumption of our building’s construction. While we were negotiating with the administration, a group of students suddenly began chanting provocative slogans against us and even disrespecting one of our teachers. We have decided to withdraw our protest for now, following the assurance of a discussion on Tuesday.”
Meanwhile, leaders of the protest opposing the construction said that India is attempting to impose dominance on Bangladesh in various ways, so the students cannot allow any building at the university to be constructed with their funding. If the building is to be constructed, it should be funded by its own resources.
Pro-Vice-Chancellor Dr. Sohel Ahmed said: “We will hold a meeting on Thursday in the university’s Senate Hall with all parties. Based on everyone’s reasonable opinions, we aim to reach an agreement.”
