It seems there is nobody to oversee the problems and feel the pain of students whether they are of primary level or higher graders. Usually the education ministry doesn’t like to pay heed to any issue until it turns into a major national crisis. This is likely to be happening in Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST). The situation is deteriorating in SUST following the Sunday’s clash between the police and students. The students on Wednesday resorted to hunger strike unto death as the Vice-Chancellor didn’t step down by 12:00 pm as per their demand. Yesterday was the seventh consecutive day, the students were continuing with their protests demanding VC’s removal. Earlier on Monday, the students wrote an open letter to President Abdul Hamid, who is also Chancellor of University, demanding immediate removal of SUST VC Farid Uddin Ahmed. At the same time, students also rejected the notice of shutting down the university for an indefinite period along with the directive to leave halls. At present, the students – both male and female –are staying on the campus locking the hall gates from inside.
This is the actual situation of country’s one of the most prestigious universities, where no one gets chance without having brilliant academic results in SSC and HSC levels. People send their children to these renowned academic institutions spending their hard-earned money only to ensure their safe and secured future. What’s the reason behind today’s deadlock in SUST may be, the education ministry cannot deny its failure to handle the situation perfectly. Media reported that Provost of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury Hall, Zafrin Ahmed, was at the centre of the trouble, having reportedly misbehaved with some students. She has already resigned. Dr Nazia Chowdhury of Physics Department got appointed in her place. But the situation turned critical when varsity administration called police to tackle situation that resulted in indiscriminate baton change on protesting students with the backup of sound grenade explosions, lobbing tear gas canisters and firing volley of rubber bullets.
It’s a matter of shame to us that attitudes and activities of VCs are often appear as the main reason behind igniting abnormal situation in the universities. We had experienced it in many cases – from Zahangir Nagar University to Jagannath University and from Chattogram University to Dhaka University. The politically appointed VCs don’t care anybody as they know where their power base is. In some incidents, we saw that a small but powerful group of students had extended helping hand to VCs to ‘punish’ the protesters. This cannot be happened in any civilized country.
