IU professor 'forced out of campus' over alleged AL ties
Some students of the Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia allegedly forced Bangla Department Professor Baki Billah Bikul to leave the campus, accusing him of having ties with the Awami League (AL).
According to sources, Professor Baki Billah Bikul is a supporter of the teacher organisation Shapla Forum and the Bangabandhu Council. He was seen participating in pro-Awami League rallies on various occasions.
A group of students, yesterday, chanted slogans against him at the Rabindra-Nazrul Arts building and demanded that he leave the campus. However, no student from the Bangla department participated.
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The agitated students met with the department head Professor Robiul Hossain and called for Professor Baki's removal. Following which, arrangements were made for Baki to leave.
This is the second time the teacher was compelled to leave the campus since the fall of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina's government.
Prior to this, during a memorial programme at the university for a fellow professor on 14 September, this teacher was allegedly harassed and forced to leave IU.
Commenting on the issue, Professor Baki Billah Bikul said, "Though I am hurt, I have no complaints against my beloved students… I will never raise complaints against them. They are my life; I want to live alongside them."
President of IU's teachers' association Professor Anwar Hossain said, "Students who harassed a professor and forced him to leave the university are destroying a healthy educational environment here."
Arts faculty dean Professor Amtaj Hossain also spoke on the matter and said, "I first learned about this issue through journalists. Can students really judge a teacher? If a teacher has done anything wrong, it is the students' responsibility to file a complaint with the relevant authorities. It is extremely unfortunate that a teacher has been compelled to leave the campus."
The university's Vice-Chancellor Professor Nakeeb Mohammad Nasrullah could not be reached for comment on the matter.
