Dhaka University authorities have withdrawn the trust fund named after controversial former vice chancellor Anwarullah Chowdhury in the face of criticism.
Dhaka University VC AAMS Arefin Siddique told the Dhaka Tribune that the decision was made in a Syndicate meeting on Wednessday.
The Dhaka University authorities set up the trust fund named after a former vice-chancellor who had to resign following the mass assault into a female hall by male police 13 years ago.
The Dhaka Tribune published a news about the fund on August 26.
Several former students and teachers lodged a protest after the matter was disclosed in the latest issue of the university newsletter, Dhaka Bishwabidyalaya Barta, published on August 15.
The newsletter also published a happy photograph of a ceremony in which a bank cheque was being handed over to the university authorities for setting up the fund.
Both disputed former VC Prof Anwarullah Chowdhury and current VC Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique were present at the ceremony among some of the other top officials of the university administration.
Prof Anwarullah resigned on August 1, 2002 in the face of a massive student movement following an assault on female students by male police members in the middle of the night on July 23 of that year.
Allegations have it that the former VC and some top officials of the then BNP-Jamaat-led government instructed the policemen to swoop on the female students, who were protesting the illegal stay of political activists in the university dormitories.
According to reports published by various newspapers at that time, more than 200 female students were injured on that night. In the following days, around 500 male and female students, five teachers, and 10 journalists were injured in police attack while they were protesting the assault.
In the face of a strong protest that went for about a week, the VC and then proctor Nazrul Islam stepped down. However, none of the policemen who attacked the students or those who gave them instructions have been punished as yet.
Every year since that incident, DU students have been remembering the “black night” demanding punishment for those who attacked the female students.