After 19 hours, the students of Jahangirnagar University (JU), who were on a hunger strike demanding the abolition of the ward quota, suspended their protest following an assurance from the vice-chancellor.
At around 6am on Monday, the university’s Vice-Chancellor, Professor Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan, ended the hunger strike by offering juice to the protesting students.
Earlier, from 10pm until the suspension of the hunger strike, the vice-chancellor, both pro-vice-chancellors, the treasurer, the university proctor, deans of various faculties, and several members of the administration were present at the site and engaged in multiple rounds of discussions with the protesters.
At one stage, as the students refused to end their strike without a clear commitment, the officials remained there with them.
Following the suspension of the hunger strike, Mohammad Ali Chishti, a student from the 53rd batch of the English department, said: “The administration has expressed moral support for our demand and assured us of the abolition of the ward Quota. At 3pm, they will hold a meeting with teachers, officials, and staff regarding this issue. If they attempt to reform or retain the quota in any way and betray us, we will resume our hunger strike.”
Regarding the issue, Arifuzzaman Ujjal, the convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’s JU chapter, said: “The administration has agreed with us on a policy level. They will make a decision after a meeting with all parties at 3pm today. The administration has assured us of a logical resolution. Based on the outcome of this meeting, we have decided to suspend our program.”
Vice-Chancellor Professor Mohammad Kamrul Ahsan said: “We are in agreement with the students on a policy level. This issue will be resolved in the meeting at 3pm on Monday. We hope the students will be satisfied with the outcome.”
On Sunday at 11am, under the banner of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, eight students began a hunger strike in front of the new administrative building of the university, demanding the abolition of the ward quota in the admission process. Later, six more students joined in solidarity, bringing the total number of hunger strikers to 14.