Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute bans student politics for five years

Student politics has been banned for five years at Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute due to an incident where then-principal Farid Uddin was dragged around and thrown into a pond.

Mohammad Abdur Rashid Mollik, the new principal of the institution, issued the directive in an emergency notification on Thursday.

A group of alleged Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists of Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute publicly insulted and threw the then-principal Farid Uddin into a pond for not complying with their demand to sit for an examination on 2 November, 2019.

The video of the incident went viral on social media at the time. A case was filed and an inquiry committee was formed over the incident.

The statement signed by Principal Mohammad Abdur Rashid Mollik said, "Based on the recommendations of the inquiry committee, all institutional student political activities have been declared closed on Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute campus for five years."

The principal requested everyone in the notice to be aware of the announcement. Leaders of the student political organisations are sharing the notice on their social media accounts.

Principal Farid Uddin Ahmed had refused to allow some students to take an exam due to the students' lack of attendance in class. Some leaders and activists of Chhatra League got angry about this and threw him into a pond.

The then-principal then filed a case accusing 50 people. Police arrested at least 13 people and BCL fired its incumbent leaders from the party. Later, Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute authorities took disciplinary action against 13 students, expelling four of them.

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'Chhatra League' men threw principal of Rajshahi Polytechnic Institute into pond