BAU students reject hall evacuation order, place 6-point demand
Several female students and first-year students were seen leaving their dormitories since morning
Students of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) staged a protest march rejecting the university administration's directive to vacate the dormitories today (1 September).
Students from different halls brought out processions around 9:10 am and gathered at the university's KR Market area.They chanted various slogans protesting the decision.
Several female students and first-year students were seen leaving their dormitories since morning.
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The protesting students announced a six-point demand at a press conference in the university's Amtala area around 11:30am today.
The six-point demands are:
1. Immediate withdrawal of the "illegal" hall evacuation notice.
2. Ensuring uninterrupted access to all facilities in the halls.
3. Resignation of the proctorial body within 24 hours for its failure to ensure student safety and for allowing outsiders to attack students with teachers' backing.
4. A public apology from the Vice-Chancellor for incidents of crude bomb explosions, vandalism of the library and other installations, attacks on students with local weapons, and harassment of female students by hired outsiders.
5. Exemplary punishment of the teachers involved in the attacks including Prof. Asaduzzaman Sarker, Prof Tofazzal, Prof Sharif Ar Raffi, and Prof Kamruzzaman of the Faculty of Agriculture; Prof Bazlur Rahman Mollah of the Faculty of Animal Husbandry; Prof Munir of Genetics; and Prof Ashiqul Islam of Dairy Science along with the miscreants.
6. Immediate introduction of a single combined degree as per the ongoing one-month-long student movement.
The protesting students warned that if the administration fails to meet the demands promptly they will enforce a total lockdown and blackout at BAU.
A BAU student, requesting anonymity, said, "Authorities are ordering us to vacate the halls but the halls and university are not anyone's ancestral property. Without ensuring justice for the attacks on students by outsiders during our peaceful demonstration the administration has again ordered us to leave the halls which we cannot accept. Intimidation will not stop our movement. Our protests will continue until our demands are met."
Amid rising tension on campus, the university authorities announced the closure for an indefinite period.
The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the university's syndicate last night (31 August).
Students were instructed to vacate all residential halls by 9 am today.
The move comes in the wake of recent unrest and student protests surrounding academic demands and a reported attack on students by outsiders.
At least four students of BAU were injured in an attack by a group of outsiders on Sunday evening, during a protest in which students had confined Vice-Chancellor Prof. Dr. A K Fazlul Haque Bhuiyan and nearly 250 teachers for over five hours, demanding the introduction of a single combined degree.
