Using the Liberation War of the country to justify one’s criminal activities can never be acceptable, and is a heinous crime, teachers of Dhaka University said.
Also unacceptable is criminal activities on the campuses of educational institutions, they further asserted.
Condemning the recent attack on Ducsu Vice President Nurul Haque Nur, Prof Dr Muntassir Mamoon, historian and a former professor of Dhaka University, who taught there for 46 years, said: “We do not condone criminal activity in educational institutions. A university is a place for debate. When we were students ourselves, we fought against imperial power, but never did we support criminal activities.”
About Muktijuddha Mancha, whose members are accused of carrying out the attack, Prof Mamoon said: “I do not know who formed this Muktijoddha Mancha. It is a heinous crime to use the Liberation War to justify such attacks.”
File photo: Muktijuddho Mancha stages a protest rally at Dhaka University on Wednesday, December 18, 2019 | Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneHe also said he was shocked by the lack of proper response from the administration of Dhaka University over the attack.
“It is not a difficult job for the (university) authorities to find out who is responsible for such criminal activity,” he added.
Nur, vice president of Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (Ducsu) and 27 others were viciously attacked, reportedly by members of Muktijuddha Mancha and Bangladesh Chhatra League, inside the Ducsu building on Sunday, following an altercation between Nur and his associates and a group of Muktijuddha Mancha on the campus earlier that day.
Five of the victims are currently undergoing treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).
When contacted, Prof Dr Sadeka Halim, dean of social sciences at Dhaka University, echoed Prof Mamoon’s sentiment.
“There were many social and cultural organizations who are active in the university campus,” she told Dhaka Tribune. “We never expect unwanted activities from them. We know these organizations are working for the betterment of DU students. What happened at Ducsu, where its elected Vice President Nur was injured, is not acceptable.”
No one should be allowed to serve their own personal interests by using the Liberation War, both Prof Mamoon and Prof Halim said when speaking about Muktijuddha Mancha.
