Students force DU dean to quit

One more dean of Dhaka University was forced to resign yesterday in the wake of a student protest.
Different groups of students have been pressing for removal of several other teachers from their administrative and academic roles alleging that they sided with the ousted Awami League government, and failed to provide security to the students during the recent quota reform protest.
Prof AKM Mahbub Hasan, dean of the Faculty of Biological Sciences, resigned yesterday.
Zeenat Huda, general secretary of Dhaka University Teachers’ Association (DUTA), yesterday wrote to the Law Affairs Adviser Asif Nazrul expressing concern over such incidents.
According to witnesses, around 60 students of the Faculty of Biological Sciences gathered in front of the faculty building around 11:00am demanding Mahbub’s resignation.
Around 12:30pm, they moved to the Teacher’s Quarter building in Fuller Road area where Mahbub resides.
The protesters went inside the apartment complex. A few of them went to Mahbub’s apartment and pushed and banged the door. The teacher was not in his apartment at that time.
After learning about the protest, Mahbub got an office staffer to print a resignation letter from the faculty office and signed it in front of the students.
However, the agitators then insisted that Mahbub must sign the resignation letter they had prepared.
The dean then wrote another resignation letter, similar to the one prepared by the students, but refused to submit it to the office in-person.
The dean of another faculty of the university, wishing to be unnamed, told The Daily Star that he has his resignation letter ready after seeing what happened to Prof Mahbub.
In another development, a group of students from the Mathematics department padlocked the office of Prof Chandra Nath Podder, demanding his permanent removal as teacher.
The agitators started demonstrating in front of the department around noon alleging that he opposed the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement.
Emerging from a meeting around 1:00pm, Chandra met the protesters and heard their demand.
Following a five-hour negotiation between the teacher and students, the students left the department saying they would announce their next course of action soon.
Another group of students of the Institute of Nutrition and Food Science yesterday demanded permanent removal of two teachers and apology from the rest of the teachers.
Meanwhile, a group of students of the university’s Sociology department yesterday sent a letter to the department demanding resignation of Chairman Prof Zeenat Huda.
They also demanded Prof AKM Jamal Uddin, Prof Sadeka Halim, and Prof Moshiur Rahman be relieved of all academic and administrative duties.
The agitating students also issued a 48-hour ultimatum to the authorities to meet their demands and warned that they would lay siege to the department if their demands were not met.
Also, a group of students of the Economics department wrote to the department chairperson yesterday demanding removal of Prof Shahadat Hossain Siddique and Syed Naimul Wadood.
Prof Zeenat in her letter to the law affairs adviser alleged that those groups of students [protesters] were creating a scary situation on campus, and that the teachers were feeling insecure.
“I would like to inform you that a good number of teachers of Dhaka University are in vulnerable condition. They are being threatened and attacked so that they resign as chairman, director, and dean,” reads the letter.