The fall of a Vice-Chancellor

It all started with a Facebook post, some simple but courageous words of dissent.

But the words were not tolerated, as the brute force of the authorities tried to silence the voice, and ignited a protest.

On September 12 the students of the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University in Gopalganj found a cause to unite against the authoritarian attitude of their Vice-Chancellor Professor Khondoker Nasiruddin.

The protest finally caused the VC to resign on Monday after a probe report by the University Grants Commission (UGC) recommended his removal a day earlier.

In the beginning, Faatema Tuz Zinia, a second-year law student was suspended over a Facebook post criticising the university authorities on September 10.

The VC took the decision claiming her words had tarnished the university's image.

But the decision caused huge criticism on social and mainstream media, and the protesters demanded it be withdrawn.

At least 50 protesting students were injured on September 20 in an attack by some goons allegedly hired by Nasiruddin.

Next day, three assistant proctors stepped down in protest against the role of the university authorities after the attack.

The authorities on September 21 closed the university until October 3 but the protesters continued their agitations ignoring the closure notice.

Some photographs of the injured students stirred the media and prompted the UGC to form a probe committee to inquire the matter, on September 25.

Led by Professor Dr Md Alamgir, the committee included the UGC members Professor Afroza and Professor Dr Sazzad Hossain, the commission Director (Public University Management Division) Md Kamal Uddin and Deputy Director Mauli Azad.

The UGC probe

The team visited the university on September 25 and 26, and found the VC guilty as he was involved in huge irregularities, including immoral and irresponsible activities, financial corruption and violation of the university rules, especially in teachers' recruitment and promotion.

Mauli Azad told The Business Standard that the team found evidence of misconduct and corruption against him.

It also found that the suspension of the student over a Facebook post on September 7 was immoral and irresponsible. The VC was indirectly involved in the attack on the protesting students on the campus on September 20.

The probe team found evidence that the VC misbehaved with teachers, students and officials continuously.

"We did not find out everything for shortage of time. The VC was also involved in many other corrupt activities," said Mauli Azad.

The UGC team recommended to the Education Ministry on Sunday that they remove the VC and take legal action against him.

The strongman falls at last

After realizing the situation, Professor Khondoker Nasiruddin left campus with the protection of Goplaganj Police on Sunday night.

On Monday he submitted the resignation letter to Abdullah Al Hasan Chowdhury, additional secretary of the Ministry of Education. Later the additional secretary handed over the letter to Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni.

"We are looking into the matter. We will take the initiatives as per the rules," said Dipu Moni at an event in the International Mother Language Institute after receiving the resignation letter.

"We have requested the Vice-Chancellors to run their respective universities with the highest sense of responsibility," she added.

Earlier, Professor Khondoker Nasiruddin arranged a press conference on September 26 where he claimed, "many news portals are publishing false, fabricated, and baseless reports on the university's recent developments."

"The portals did this without even double-checking the information they used in the reports. They also did not gather the information from the university administration, but ran one-sided news," the VC added.

He said, "no one can compel me to resign."

Khondoker Nasiruddin had been serving as the Vice-Chancellor of BSMRSTU since February 2015.

A victory for the students

The resignation of the VC brought joy for the protesting students as they showed V signs hearing the news on Monday. They arranged a victory rally and distributed sweets among the teachers and the students.

"The VC was the monster of the university. He took many decisions according to his whims," said Bayezid Rahman, a third-year student of the Department of Accounting and Information.

A lesson for other VCs

Professor AK Azad Chowdhury, former VC of the Dhaka University, who also served as the UGC chairman, told The Business Standard that the resignation of Nasiruddin is a lesson for other Vice-Chancellors of public universities.

"Please don't do anything that will go against you and tarnish the image of the university," he said.

Educationist Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam said the VCs think that they can do anything without taking into consideration the students' opinions.

"Students are the main part of a university. The VCs must remember that," said Sayed Manzoorul.