Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) in Mymensingh has been declared closed indefinitely following an attack on protesting students who had confined over 200 teachers, including the vice-chancellor, demanding a combined degree.
At the same time, students have been instructed to vacate the dormitories by 9am on Monday.
Mymensingh Deputy Commissioner Mofidul Alam and General Secretary of the University Teachers’ Association Professor Md Asaduzzaman Sarker confirmed the matter on Sunday.
Citing Vice-Chancellor Professor AK Fazlul Haque Bhuiyan, the deputy commissioner said that after the Academic Council meeting at 11am on Sunday, an emergency syndicate meeting was held online at 9:30pm in light of the situation.
Based on the meeting’s decision, the university was declared closed for an indefinite period, and all students were asked to leave their halls by morning.
Over 200 teachers, including the vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU), were confined by students of two faculties over the unfulfilled demand for a combined degree on Sunday.
Around 1pm, the protesting students locked the teachers inside the Zainul Abedin Auditorium of the university.
Later in the evening, at least four students were injured in an alleged attack near the Zainul Abedin Auditorium by a group of outsiders during the protest.
The identities of the injured students could not be confirmed immediately.
Eyewitnesses said the attackers were not students of BAU and entered the campus unlawfully.
Following the attack, the students dispersed, allowing Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr AK Fazlul Haque Bhuiyan and the confined teachers to be released.
The attackers, believed to be outsiders, left the campus shortly after the incident. In response, hundreds of students began gathering on campus to protest the attack.
They are currently preparing to hold a press conference, where they are expected to announce their demands.
The students were protesting a decision by the Academic Council to continue offering three separate degrees — BSc in Animal Husbandry, Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (DVM), and a combined degree — a resolution they said did not meet their expectations.
Rejecting the council’s decision, students locked the doors of the auditorium where the meeting had taken place, effectively detaining the VC and faculty members.