Jahangirnagar University (JU) Vice Chancellor apparently began his own sit-in protest on Tuesday night to counter a similar protest by teachers in front of his residence on the Savar campus.
Prof Anwar Hossain said he would not enter his house while a single teacher remained in front of the property. Later, he and his wife passed the whole night there while the agitating teachers slept on the ground.
He told the Dhaka Tribune: “I would not leave this place until each of them leaves. I have no other place to stay except the university’s VC Residence, but the teachers are irrationally agitating here using loudspeakers.”
The same group of teachers has been demanding resignation of the VC for his ‘failure’ to expel a Chhatra League leader accused of assaulting a teacher and take actions against those who attacked the residences of some teachers last year.
In the meantime, the agitating teachers also confined the register and deputy register (teaching) of the university for over 44 hours at their offices. While most did not take any classes or examinations, a few teachers who are against the movement, discharged their duties as normal.
“The probe body has submitted the investigation report, but the teachers are not willing to wait for the report and are violating the university’s job act by boycotting classes and examinations. They are using the upcoming admission test of the university to gain leverage while the university and its students are being the worst victim of an irrational movement.”
Prof Anwar said the agitating teachers would have to answer for each and every activity in the name of the teachers’ movement as they were violating the High Court’s rule on not interrupting the university timetable.
However, the agitating teachers’ under the banner of General Teachers’ Forum told the Dhaka Tribune they had not confined the VC. Rather, he had decided to take up his own position.
“The interesting thing is, the VC himself decided not to enter his residence, we did not block his entrance,” Prof Kamrul Ahsan, the general secretary of the forum, said.