Students of Dhaka University, under the banner of Bangladesh General Students' Rights Protection Council, bring out a procession on the campus yesterday afternoon protesting the throwing out of some female students from Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall by the dorm authorities around midnight on Thursday. The students' platform recently launched a movement demanding reforms in quota in government jobs. Photo: Star

The Dhaka University authorities have drawn flak for driving out female students from Kabi Sufia Kamal hall late Thursday night.

Terming the incident shameful, Bangladesh Shadharan Chhatra Odhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad, the platform of students that led the recent quota reform movement, demonstrated on the campus yesterday.

After hours of widespread criticisms and demonstrations, the hall Provost Prof Sabita Rizwana told The Daily Star last night that three girls had returned to the dorm after giving written statements that “they would not spread rumours again”.

Contradicting witness statements that four girls were driven out of the dorm at night, she insisted that three girls were “handed over to families for counselling. We did not revoke their seats.”

The provost added that she had a “successful” meeting at the hall with over 500 resident students around 8:30pm. “All of them said that they were embarrassed about the misleading posts [on social media].”

Before throwing out the students from the hall on Thursday, the authorities had gone through the students' mobile phones. Witnesses said two of the students left the dormitory at 11:45pm and 12:15am while the others walked out at 10:30pm.

The DU administration has been saying that these students had spread rumours using fake accounts on Facebook during the April 10 incident at the dormitory.

DEMOS ALL AROUND

Students of the university's Rokeya hall even demonstrated in front of Vice Chancellor Prof Akhtaruzzaman when he visited the dorm to attend an event yesterday evening.

Addressing a rally on campus, Nurul Huq, joint convenor of Bangladesh Shadharan Chhatra Odhikar Sangrakkhan Parishad, said, “Driving students out of the dormitory at midnight shows the moral degradation of the provost. We demand that the Dhaka University authorities remove her from the post immediately.”

With placards and slogans condemning the move, several hundred protesters joined a procession on the campus in the afternoon, amid presence of Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders.

Residents of Rokeya Hall protest as DU VC Prof Akhteruzzaman walks past them at their hall yesterday. Photo: Collected

The protesters urged DU authorities to bring back the students with dignity or be prepared for more demonstrations on the streets.

“Those who took part in the quota reform movement are receiving death threats and conspiracies against them are being hatched,” Rashed Khan, another joint convener of the platform, said, addressing the rally.

The procession was scheduled to start from the central library at 4:00pm, but no protestor was seen there at the time. BCL leaders and activists loitered there instead. The procession started from Raju Memorial Sculpture later.

Some 30 BCL activists also took position near the sculpture. They left after the protestors started the procession.

At Jahangirnagar University, some 70 students demonstrated condemning the DU administration.

Pragatishil Chhatra Jote, an alliance of left-leaning student bodies, in a statement said, “The incident is an expression of the autocratic nature of Dhaka University administration.” They too demanded removal of the provost.

Demanding a safe campus for students, a group of teachers under the banner of "Shocheton Shikkhokbrindo" have announced forming a human chain at the base of Aparajeyo Bangla on the campus on Sunday.

A number of former students and teachers also took to social media to criticise DU administrations.

In a one-man proest, Yasin Arafat, a second-year DU student, holds a placard in front of F Rahman Hall, demanding resignation of Sufia Kamal Hall Provost Dr Sabita Rizwana for kicking out some female students late on Thursday night. Photo: Collected

WHAT HAPPENED ON APRIL 10

On April 10, some photos of an injured female student at Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall went viral on the social media. According to some students at the hall, BCL's hall unit president Iffat Jahan Isha was allegedly assaulting three students inside her room around 12:30am for joining the quota reform protests.

Hearing screams of the students, Morsheda Akhtar, a fourth-year student of botany and also vice president of the BCL hall unit, rushed to Iffat's room. Finding it locked, she got angry, kicked a window of the room and cut her foot, they said.

Some photos of her wounded leg were doing the rounds on Facebook with captions that Iffat had cut tendons of Morsheda's leg.

Iffat was suspended by the university soon afterwards, but the authorities took her back later.

Residents of the hall told The Daily Star yesterday that the hall authorities had been interrogating them about their Facebook posts regarding Isha's alleged assaults on several quota reform protesters.

PROTESTOR DENIED ENTRY TO HIS DORM

With a placard demanding removal of the hall Provost Prof Sabita, SM Yasin Arafat, a second year student, came in front of Sufia Kamal Hall around 1:30pm on Thursday alone.

Other students joined him soon.

When he was returning to his room in Sir F Rahman Hall around 4:00am, some BCL men allegedly intercepted him at the gate and barred his entry.

“I took the seat at the hall with the help of Chhatra League. They want to know why I joined the protest.... I was told to leave the dorm,” Yasin told The Daily Star early today.

He added that he was staying at his friend's house at Bakshi Bazar.

The dorm students yesterday alleged that they have been harassed and threatened in the name of investigating the reported abuses of quota protesters by Iffat.

DU VC PRAISES HALL AUTHORITIES

Prof Akhtaruzzaman told reporters at his residence yesterday morning that it was the responsibility of Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall authorities to hand the students, who had spread falsehood on Facebook, over to their families.

"It was done to safeguard the dignity of the hall and all the students," he said, adding "So, by doing this, the hall authorities did a good job.”

PROVOST THREATENED MASS EXPULSION

An audio clip of the hall Provost Prof Sabita Rizwana was doing the rounds on social media where she was heard warning the resident students against giving any “misleading posts” on social media.

“Those who are giving misleading posts are under government surveillance. The intelligence cell will look into it. I don't want any involvement  in this.

“Now if anyone tries to create chaos or if you try to post anything to create confusion about the hall, we will inform the government,” the provost said, warning them against committing cyber crimes.

The students are heard pointing out that “all 2,000 students of the dorm” took part in the protest on April 11. The provost said the officials saw the video footage and identified some of them.

“But if 2000 students give signatures and take responsibility of the assault [on Iffat], I will submit it to the university authorities to revoke all of your studentships.”

Several resident students of the hall confirmed the authenticity of the audio clip.

VC Akhtaruzzaman earlier told reporters that a five-member probe body had identified 26 resident students of Sufia Kamal Hall who created chaos on early April 11 at the dorm.

(Published 2018/04/21 at 12:34 am)