Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith yesterday said political parties should be ousted from the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) campus in order to keep congenial atmosphere.
The minister made the remark while visiting the under-construction site of Sylhet Central Shaheed Minar.
He said Shahjalal university was one of the best public university in the country and there was no session jam in the university, but gunfight and armed clashes took there frequently because of political parties.
“So there should be a way to keep campus free from politics,” Muhith added.
The Shaheed Minar is being rebuilt with a unique design at a cost of Tk 2 crore. Sylhet City Corporation is implementing the project which will be inaugurated on December 10.
Former city mayor and city unit Awami League President Badar Uddin Ahmed Kamran, Sylhet district council administrator and district AL president Abduj Jahir Chowdhury Sufian, Secretary Shofiqur Rahman Chowdhury, Sylhet Sadar upazila Parishad Chairman Ashfaque Ahmed accompanied the minister.
A private university student was killed and nine people were injured during a gunfight between two Chhatra League factions of the SUST over establishing supremacy on the campus on November 20.
Students who witnessed the gunfight said followers of SUST BCL unit president, who had remained absent from the campus for quite a long time, entered the university around 10:30am on that day.
They vandalised the library, academic building and the Shah Paran Hall. The clash erupted as students loyal to Vice-President Anjan Roy arrived at the scene.
Both factions opened fire on each other and exploded hand-made bombs, leaving one dead and 20 people injured.
Following the death of Sumon Roy, a BBA student at Sylhet International University, the authorities closed the university for an indefinite period.
Four cases were filed with Jalalabad police station in this connection and police arrested 33 BCL members for their alleged involvement with the killing.
