Several Dhaka University (DU) students yesterday protested the illegal enrolment of 34 former and incumbent Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders into a specific department of the Business Faculty.
The protesters demanded the resignations of the DU vice-chancellor and the dean of the Business Faculty over the preferential treatment given to the Chhatra League leaders, who were admitted to the masters of tax management (MTM) course under the banking and insurance department.
The demands were voiced during a rally at the base of the Anti-Terrorism Raju Memorial Sculpture near the DU Teacher Student Centre (TSC).
The protest was organized in the wake of media reports that said a number of Chhatra League leaders enrolled in the university ahead of the Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) election did not sit for admission tests or viva-voce. Eight of the leaders were elected to Ducsu and hall unions.
Addressing the rally, Bangladesh General Students' Rights Protection Council (BGSRPC) Convener Hasan Al Mamun said: “An admission test is required to enroll in DU. However, before the Ducsu polls, the VC and Dean Shibli Rubayat Ul Islam gave preferential treatment to leaders of a particular student body by signing a paper instead of making them sit for the intake test.
"What they have done is clearly moral degradation. We are demanding the resignation of both the VC and the dean, as well as a re-election to the posts where the Chhatra League leaders were earlier elected," Mamun added.
Around 50 students of DU expressed solidarity with the protesters.
In addition, some of the Chhatra League leaders concerned confirmed that they did not sit for the admission test, according to a national daily.
Bangladesh Chhatra Union has condemned the role of the DU VC and dean concerned in the incident, demanding exemplary punishment of those involved if they are found guilty, said a press release signed by Chhatra Union Office Secretary Apurba Roy.
Furthermore, Progressive Students' Alliance, a platform of left leaning student bodies, brought out a torch-lit procession demanding the “illegal Ducsu” be dissolved.
According to media reports, former and current leaders of the ruling party’s student front enrolled in the MTM course to continue their studentship after announcement of the Ducsu and hall union polls schedule on February 11 this year. However, the admission test for the course was held on November 30, 2018.
