JnU Correspondent :
The agitating students of Jagannath University on Tuesday occupied a piece of land belonging to Bangladesh Samabaya Bank Limited. They declared setting up of their ‘temporary Teacher Student Centre (TSC)’ on the land.
Earlier, the agitating teachers, the students and the employees of the university staged a sit-in programme in front of the Sadarghat Branch of Bangladesh Bank demanding immediate removal of the branch from the university’s land. They put up a banner, written ‘Jagannath University Academy Bhaban’, there.
They started the demonstration in the morning as part of their ongoing movement to recover the 10 university halls from illegal occupation. As part of their pre-announced programme, they brought out a silent procession under the banner of ‘Hall Uddhar (Recovery) Committee’ from the Shaheed Minar, boycotting all classes and examinations. They took position in front of the Bangladesh Bank after parading different roads. During the sit-in, none was allowed to enter the bank. At one stage, the agitating students broke open the gate of the plot, opposite to the JnU main gate, which is now under the occupation of the Samabaya Bank, and set furniture and other materials on fire in the afternoon. They also broke the wall surrounding the land and proclaimed it as their TSC. Traffic in the area came to a halt for several hours following the agitation. However, there was no major untoward incident.
Sirajul Islam, a member of the Hall Recovery Committee and General Secretary of the university unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League, said that the occupied land would be used as their TSC from now. He claimed that once there was a hall on the land and its surrounding areas.
The day-long demonstration ended with the declaration that the teachers and students will again besiege the Bangladesh Bank today (Wednesday).
The university students have been demonstrating since February 12 for recovering its halls that have been grabbed by influential people, including police, MPs and political leaders over two decades.
On February 23, at least 25 students of the university were injured in a clash with police during their demonstration demanding that the occupied Tibet Hall in Bangla Bazar area in the city be reclaimed.
The Ministry of Education formed a seven-member committee, headed by Jatiya Party MP Kazi Feroz Rashid, on March 1 for reclaiming the university’s occupied lands. The committee was asked to submit its report with seven days.
