Students of 7 colleges give 4 hrs for DU pro-VC’s resignation, 5 other demands
They want a separate university for them to be announced within 24 hours; warns of tougher protests if demands not met by 4pm
The demands:
- Apology from DU authorities and resignation of DU pro-VC
- Dismissal of New Market policemen 'for attack on protesting students'
- Actions against DU students 'for derogatory remarks regarding protesting female students'
- Ending all academic, administrative ties between DU and 7 affiliated colleges; announcement of a separate university in 24 hrs
- Meeting between CA, govt advisers, UGC, DU, 7 colleges' students to resolve situation
- Reopening city corporation roads in DU to public
Students of seven government colleges affiliated with Dhaka University (DU) have given a four-hour ultimatum for the resignation of DU Pro Vice-Chancellor Prof Mamun Ahmed and the implementation of five more demands.
The demands also include an apology from DU authorities and punishment of policemen involved in last night's incident.
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The students made these demands at a press conference at the Dhaka College premises at around 12pm today (27 January). Eden Mohila College student Sumaiya Akter read out a written statement detailing the demands at the briefing.
The students demanded the ending of academic and administrative ties between DU and the seven affiliated colleges and an announcement of a separate university for them within the next 24 hours.
In the written statement, students claimed policemen from New Market Police Station attacked Dhaka College student Mohammad Rakib "in an attempt to kill him". They demanded the dismissal of the policemen involved in the incident.
They also demanded actions against the DU students who they claim made derogatory remarks regarding the female students of Eden Mohila College and Begum Badrunnessa Government Girls' College.
To resolve the emerging situation, Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus, Education Adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud, student leader and Information and Broadcasting Adviser Nahid Islam, University Grants Commissioner members, and the DU vice-chancellor (VC) must hold an urgent meeting with a delegation of the seven college students, they said.
Moreover, the roads of the city corporation in the DU areas must be opened to the public, read the written statement.
Meanwhile, DU VC Prof Niaz Ahmed Khan expressed grief over last night's clash and urged the students on both sides to be patient and maintain peace.
"The country is going through a crisis. In such a situation, all of us need to be united. We need to be vigilant to thwart third parties from taking advantage," he said in a press release.
Sajib Uddin, a Dhaka College student and a member of the committee formed to press forward the demand for a separate university, told the press conference that more than 50 people were injured during last night's (26 January) clashes, including Rakib who is a member of the Anti-discrimination Student Movement executive committee.
"Seven people were seriously injured. We are demanding punishment for the police and DU students involved in this attack. If our demands are not met by 4pm, the students of the seven colleges will announce tougher protests," he added.
Meanwhile, police were seen on high alert in the Nilkhet area.
Events that led to the ultimatum
Yesterday evening, students of seven government colleges affiliated with DU staged a demonstration at the Science Lab intersection in the capital's Mirpur Road.
Over a hundred students initially blocked the intersection at around 6pm, protesting DU's role regarding their five-point demand.
At 10:30pm, over 300 students marched towards DU after blocking the Science Lab intersection for about four and a half hours.
At one point, several hundred students from different DU halls came out and chased them away, forcing the students of seven colleges to disperse from the Nilkhet intersection.
At around 11:45pm, students of DU and the seven colleges were stationed on both sides of the Nilkhet intersection, and the situation became tense.
Four platoons of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) were deployed to maintain order as students of both seven colleges and DU were positioned there at around midnight, BGB spokesperson Shariful Islam confirmed.
Police reportedly lobbed sound grenades to disperse the crowd.
After intervention from the security forces, the situation started to calm down as tensions died down between the two groups at around 1:30am.
Seven college students claimed the DU students had launched the attack.
Earlier in the day, the seven college students said they went to meet DU Pro-VC Prof Mamun to know about the progress of their five-point demands.
They alleged that the pro-VC misbehaved with them and did not listen to their plea.
