CU students start hunger strike demanding resignation of proctorial body
The protest began today (10 September) around 1:30pm in front of the Proctor’s Office under the banner of “Odhikar Sachetan Shikkharthi”.
Nine students of Chittagong University (CU) have started a hunger strike demanding the resignation of the university's proctorial body, along with six other demands.
The protest began today (10 September) around 1:30pm in front of the Proctor's Office under the banner of "Odhikar Sachetan Shikkharthi".
The students participating in the hunger strike are Omar Shamudra and Dhrubo Barua from the Bengali Department, Isha De and Zashad Zakir from the Music Department, Rama Sain Marma from the Sports Science Department, Ahmed Mughdha and Naeem Shajan from the English Department, and Sumaiya Sikder from the Marketing Department.
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Their demands include the publication of a full list of injured students and provision of medical treatment, quality mobile housing for non-residential students, recovery of displaced students' belongings, ensuring safety for identified students, bringing real culprits to justice and stop harassment of innocent local residents, formation of a coordination committee to resolve conflicts, and publication and implementation of a safe campus roadmap.
In addition, they demand that the proctorial body publicly apologise for student injuries and resign immediately.
Isha De, organiser of the Revolutionary Student and Youth Movement (CU branch), told The Business Standard that for the past four days, they have been protesting for our seven-point demand. "We gave the administration two days' time and even submitted a memorandum signed by over a thousand students. But the administration has said it will consider the matter only after the Cucsu elections," she said.
"Hundreds of students have been injured in clashes, and there is no guarantee it won't happen again. Therefore, we demand the immediate resignation of the proctorial body, and the hunger strike will continue until they step down," she added.
The clashes
The unrest stemmed from an incident in which a female student was allegedly slapped by a security guard for returning late to her rented accommodation near Gate No. 2 of CU on the night of August 30.
The incident sparked clashes that night between students and local villagers, leaving more than 50 injured.
Fresh violence broke out again the next day, during which at least 400 and 500 people, including the CU pro-vice chancellor, proctor, teachers and students, were injured.
Later in the day, Section 144 was imposed in the area from Gate No 2 to the railgate on the east side following the repeated clashes.
On 2 September, the CU administration filed a case with Hathazari Model Police Station, naming 95 individuals and accusing around 1,000 unidentified people. So far, nine people have been arrested.
