4 students served show cause for hoisting kalema flags at JU Hall

The hall administration has issued show cause notices to four students of a room over the hoisting a kalema featuring flag on the balcony of Jahangirnagar University's (JU) National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall.

The notice, signed by the hall's warden and convener of the investigation committee, Professor Mir Ferdous Hossain, was issued on Thursday.

The students who received the show cause letters are Arif Hasnat (Shamim) of the 53rd batch of the Chemistry Department, Md. Rakib of the 50th batch of the Public Administration Department, Md. Giasuddin of the 52nd batch of the Chemistry Department, and Saad Abdur Rahman of the 55th batch of the Computer Science and Engineering Department. All of them are residential students of room number 302 of the hall. However, it is learnt that Saad Abdur Rahman has not yet entered the room.

The notice states that on June 27, a flag with Kalima written on it was seen being hoisted on the balcony of room 302 of block 'A' on the 3rd floor of the hall. When the matter was later circulated on various social media, it created a negative reaction among the general students. As a resident student of that room, they cannot avoid responsibility for this incident. In such a situation, the students were asked to submit their written explanation on the matter by July 5.

The hall administration and some students said that on June 27, a flag with Kalima written on white cloth was seen being hoisted on the balcony of a room in the hall. When some students criticized the flag by writing 'Taliban flag' and posting it on Facebook, the accused took it down. After the incident, the hall administration formed an investigation committee last Wednesday with the hall warden Professor Mir Ferdous Hossain as the convener. After that, four students were asked to show cause by sending separate letters.

Professor Abdur Razzak, the provost of National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam Hall, said, "The matter came to our attention after a student posted a picture of a flag on Facebook after hoisting it in the hall. There is a lot of discussion about such flags in different parts of the country. From that point on, an investigation committee has been formed to look into the matter."