What are the demands of protesting BAU students?
The announcement comes after recent incidents that heightened tension on the Bangladesh Agricultural University campus
Students of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) have rejected the administration's order to vacate their dormitories and announced a six-point demand following recent unrest on campus.
The six-point demands, announced at a press conference at the university's Amtala area around 11:30am today (1 September), are:
1. Immediate withdrawal of the "illegal" hall evacuation notice.
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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 announcement comes after recent incidents that heightened tension on the Bangladesh Agricultural University campus.
At least four students were injured yesterday (31 august) evening during a protest in which students 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.
Following the unrest, the university authorities announced the closure of the institute for an indefinite period. The decision was taken at an emergency meeting of the university syndicate. Students were instructed to vacate all residential halls by 9am today.
Several female students and first-year students were seen leaving their dormitories since morning.
However, the many students rejected the evacuation order and brought out processions from different halls around 9:10am and gathered at the university's KR Market area.
They chanted various slogans protesting the decision.
As of now, the university administration has not publicly responded to the students' demands.
