RU students let staff out of administrative building after 12 hours as VC says ward quota will be abolished
Tensions are rising between the two groups as some of the staff members have fallen sick after being stuck inside for hours without any food, reports our correspondent citing administrative officials.
In the face of protests by students, who locked up 200 members of the Rajshahi University staff inside a building for 12 hours, the university decided to abolish the ward quota system a day after the quota was reduced to 1% from 4%.
Following the announcement, the protesters opened up the locked gate ending their protest and letting out staff, some of whom have fallen sick.
In a discussion with the students and university officials, RU Vice Chancellor Saleh Hassan Naqib tonight (2 January) agreed to meet the demands of protesting students.
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"The ward quota system will be abolished. However, it will take some days to follow the due process," he said during a discussion.
The announcement comes as protesting students, led by leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, locked up 200 members of the university staff inside the administrative building at 10:00am today.
VC Naqib and other officials entered the building and are holding discussions with the students and teachers in this regard.
In the face of continuous protests, the RU administration yesterday reduced the ward quota to 1% from the previous 4%. The quota- which is fixed for the children of the university employees, including teachers - has also been limited only to the support staff.
Following the RU administration's move, the protesting students, led by the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement Coordinator Salauddin Ammar, yesterday issued an ultimatum seeking the complete abolishment of the ward quota system in RU undergraduate admissions.
"The movement demanding [removal of] quotas led to the change of a government of the country. Yet, the Rajshahi University administration has maintained an illogical nepotistic quota. The movement will continue until it is completely abolished."
In a written statement last evening, he reiterated their demand for the complete cancellation of the ward quota. He warned that the building would be locked from 10am if the administration did not meet their three demands by 9:50am today. Students were also urged to boycott classes and join the protest.
As per the announcement, the students locked the gate of the building with 200 university staff members inside at 10:00am.
In the evening, tensions rose between the two groups as some of the staff members fell sick after being stuck inside for hours without any food.
The RU staff tried to break the lock on the building gate in the evening leading to heated arguments and altercations with the protesters who refuse to open the gate till their demands were met.
At 7:30pm, RU Public Relations Department Administrator Professor Md Akhtar Hossain Majumder said there are around 200 officers and employees, including two pro-vice-chancellors, proctors, examination controllers, and treasurer stuck inside the building since 10:00am.
"There are 20 to 30 women amongst us. No one is being allowed out as the gate of the administrative building is locked. No one could eat lunch as they were not allowed to go out. We also have patients with diabetes and hypertension," he said.
Akhtar said, "We have reduced the quota from 4% to 1%. There is no ward quota for teaching staff. The quota has been kept at 1% for the support staff only for humanitarian reasons. How logical is their protest in this context?"
