The students of the Mass Communication and Journalism Department of Dhaka University on Sunday held a protest demanding Prof Naadir Junaid’s suspension for allegedly sexually harassing a female student of the university.
They made this demand while chanting slogans and holding placards during a sit-in program held in the department.
The protesters want Prof Junaid barred from all academic duties until the allegations are resolved.
They have vowed to boycott classes and exams until there is a resolution to the accusations against him.
On Saturday, a student of Dhaka University filed a written complaint alleging sexual harassment and prolonged psychological abuse against Prof Naadir Junaid of the university's Mass Communication and Journalism Department.
In the complaint submitted to Proctor Md Maksudur Rahman on Saturday, the student brought a host of allegations, including threatening her in various ways for not accepting his romantic advances, monitoring her through the CCTV camera, continuously calling her at odd hours, and expressing sexual interest.
“He used to make lewd comments about my physical appearance and express sexual tension. At the same time, he used to persuade me to participate in phone conversations of a sexual nature,” she wrote in the complaint.
Following the incident, the Dhaka University Chhatra Union organized a human chain at the TSC area of the campus, calling for the swift trial of a sexual harassment complaint.
At the human chain, the Dhaka University Chhatra Union emphasized that cases of sexual harassment within the university are not isolated events.
Earlier on February 7, postgraduate students of the Department of Mass Communication and Journalism made allegations that Professor Naadir deliberately had assigned low grades in a course as an act of personal vendetta.
Since then, both current students and alumni of the department have been actively talking about the matter on social media platforms.
In conversations with students from the department, it was found that they are set to initiate a class boycott starting Sunday.
