Around three thousand female students of Jahangirnagar University took to the streets on Monday to protest at the harassment of their two fellows allegedly by activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League on Sunday.
Sources said some BCL activists of the university had harassed two female students of the botany department at Tarjan point over a trifling matter on Sunday after a Baishakhi procession.
Witnesses said the BCL activists, including Tanvir Hasan Khan and Subal Debnath Akash had harassed the two students and pulled them by their sarees.
Hearing the news, the vice-chancellor, pro-VC and proctorial team went to the spot to calm the situation, but the BCL men misbehaved with the teachers.
Protesting at the incident, the female students of the university boycotted classes and examinations on Monday and marched in a procession on the campus.
The protesters besieged the VC office demanding the expulsion of the offenders from the university.
Classes and examinations of most of the departments were not held during their demonstration.
The protesters submitted a memorandum to VC Anwar Hossain giving him 72 hours to meet a three-point demand, including expulsion of the BCL men responsible for the harassment and display of posters with the names of the offenders.
They vowed to continue with the movement until their demands were met.
They warned the university authorities to take steps to prevent a repeat of the 1998 situation when students had waged a strong movement against sexual harassment of female students by BCL activists, forcing the authorities to expel the offenders.
Besieging the VC’s office the agitating female students chanted slogans against the harassment.
Addressing the rally, JU students’ union leader Tanzida Mohsina Tuba said the people who had harassed the female students could not be called students. ‘They are beasts.’
Pro-VCs Afsar Ahmed and MA Matin, and teachers’ association president Ajit Kumar Majumder expressed solidarity with the students’ demands.
At one point, the VC talked to the protesters and said justice would be done.
The students also threatened to confine the VC if the expulsion order was not issued against the offenders at the next syndicate meeting on Saturday.
Teachers belonging to the JU teachers’ association also threatened to go for a strong movement to press for expulsion of BCL JU unit secretary Rajib Ahmed Russell.
After the assault of JU economics department teacher Nurul Haque, the association on last Saturday gave the authorities until April 18 to take action against the students responsible.
They also demanded resignation of the proctorial body and reconstruction of the probe team.
JUTA secretary Sharif Uddin said they would be compelled to launch a strong movement if the VC tried to skip the issue of the assault on the teacher.
In 1998, Chhatra League activists, including its leader Jasim Uddin Manik, had sexually harassed a good number of female students which triggered violent protests on the campus.
The protests compelled the authorities to expel the culprits and central BCL to dissolve its JU unit committee. (Source)
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