SUST students demand VC’s exit, refuse vacating halls

Students of the Shahjalal University of Science and Technology in Sylhet staged demonstrations on the campus on Monday demanding the resignation of Vice Chancellor Farid Uddin Ahmed protesting the ‘police action on them’.

The students started gathering on the campus Monday morning although the university was declared closed for an indefinite period on Sunday following a clash.

They brought out a possession and chanted slogans on different roads inside the campus.

Meanwhile, some students were seen leaving their dormitories as per the authorities’ instruction while many others refused to leave and joined the protest rally.

Earlier, students staged a sit-in protest at the university gate till Sunday midnight protesting the university administration’s instruction to leave halls and the closure of their classes.

SUST was to shut following a clash on the campus between police and protesting students on Sunday. Its students were asked to leave their dormitories by 12:00pm Monday.

Provost of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury Hall Zafrin Ahmed is at the centre of the trouble as she reportedly misbehaved with the students. She resigned from her post citing health issues.

Dr Nazia Chowdhury of the Physics department has been appointed in her place, said Farid Uddin Ahmed, the SUST Vice Chancellor.

Removal of Zafrin Ahmed, provost of the residential hall for female students, was one of the principal demands of students protesting on the campus.

Besides, at least 40 people were hurt, including teachers, students and police personnel during Sunday’s clash.

The police charged batons, fired sound grenades and shotgun bullets to disperse the protest on Sunday afternoon, and students reacted by throwing brick chips at them, said the students.

Earlier in the day, Vice-Chancellor Prof Farid Uddin Ahmed was confined to a locked room by the students during an ongoing protest on the campus.

The students of Begum Sirajunnesa Chowdhury Hall had been protesting since Thursday the removal of the hall provost.

Different student organisations staged demonstrations on Dhaka University campus on Monday protesting the ‘police action’ on the students of SUST.