News Desk :
Jagannath University is looking to the government to take back the Tibet Hall from the clutches of MP Haji Mohammad Selim but the chances of attaining the goal are slim, reports bdnews24.com
The students have taken to the streets against Selim several times, but MP Kazi Firoz Rashid, who heads a government committee on the issue, could not give them any word of hope.
A parliament member of Dhaka-7 constituency, Haji Selim constructed ‘Gulshan Ara City Market’, naming it after his wife, at the site of the dormitory in Old Dhaka’s Waizghat.
Selim’s lawyer has denied the allegation of annexing the Tibet Hall land, claiming Selim owns it and the authorities have no documents to prove that it belonged to the university.
The students held protests demanding swift steps from the government and the university administration to reclaim the dormitory on Thursday after the jailing of Selim’s son Erfan.
Attempts to reach Selim for comment on the matter by phone went unanswered. He has remained
out of the public eye since his son, Erfan Selim, landed in prison over the possession of illegal walkie-talkies and liquor a day after the alleged assault of a navy officer.
An aide to Selim declined to comment and advised the bdnews24.com reporter to speak to the MP’s lawyer Pran Nath Debnath.
“The hall does not belong to Jagannath University. It was bought from the property owner 15-20 years ago,” said Pran Nath, claiming to have documents.
“We want the authorities to make a move,” said Mahmudul Hasan Mishu, a joint general secretary of the university unit of Bangladesh Council to Protect General Students’ Rights who is leading the ongoing movement for the hall.
According to media reports and university documents from the 1990s, the students of the university, the then Jagannath College, had set up hostels by seizing abandoned buildings in Old Dhaka but had to leave following protests by local people in 1985.
After the institution was elevated to a university in 2005, the students held movements to reclaim the halls from the possession of influential local individuals.
But they retrieved two of the 11 hostels — Habibur Rahman Hall and Nazrul Islam Hall. Students and staff reside in these dormitories now. Tibet Hall on a 14.69 decimal land is among the nine dormitories yet to reclaimed.
Jagannath University is looking to the government to take back the Tibet Hall from the clutches of MP Haji Mohammad Selim but the chances of attaining the goal are slim, reports bdnews24.com
The students have taken to the streets against Selim several times, but MP Kazi Firoz Rashid, who heads a government committee on the issue, could not give them any word of hope.
A parliament member of Dhaka-7 constituency, Haji Selim constructed ‘Gulshan Ara City Market’, naming it after his wife, at the site of the dormitory in Old Dhaka’s Waizghat.
Selim’s lawyer has denied the allegation of annexing the Tibet Hall land, claiming Selim owns it and the authorities have no documents to prove that it belonged to the university.
The students held protests demanding swift steps from the government and the university administration to reclaim the dormitory on Thursday after the jailing of Selim’s son Erfan.
Attempts to reach Selim for comment on the matter by phone went unanswered. He has remained
out of the public eye since his son, Erfan Selim, landed in prison over the possession of illegal walkie-talkies and liquor a day after the alleged assault of a navy officer.
An aide to Selim declined to comment and advised the bdnews24.com reporter to speak to the MP’s lawyer Pran Nath Debnath.
“The hall does not belong to Jagannath University. It was bought from the property owner 15-20 years ago,” said Pran Nath, claiming to have documents.
“We want the authorities to make a move,” said Mahmudul Hasan Mishu, a joint general secretary of the university unit of Bangladesh Council to Protect General Students’ Rights who is leading the ongoing movement for the hall.
According to media reports and university documents from the 1990s, the students of the university, the then Jagannath College, had set up hostels by seizing abandoned buildings in Old Dhaka but had to leave following protests by local people in 1985.
After the institution was elevated to a university in 2005, the students held movements to reclaim the halls from the possession of influential local individuals.
But they retrieved two of the 11 hostels — Habibur Rahman Hall and Nazrul Islam Hall. Students and staff reside in these dormitories now. Tibet Hall on a 14.69 decimal land is among the nine dormitories yet to reclaimed.
