Clashes between teachers and students at RU over ward quota issue

Tensions erupted at Rajshahi University (RU) on Saturday over the “ward quota” issue. Around 4pm, students scuffled with the pro-vice chancellor and the proctor on the balcony of the Juberi Building. Later, students confined them inside the building. The protest continued until 5:30pm with the teachers held inside.

During the scuffle, several people including Salahuddin Ammar, former joint convener of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, and Al Shahriar Shuvo, general secretary of the RU unit of Student Rights Council, were injured.

Earlier in the afternoon, students locked the residence of the pro-vice chancellors. Unable to enter, pro-vice chancellor Prof Main Uddin Khan and proctor Prof Mahbubur Rahman returned. When they later headed towards the Juberi Building, students followed them with slogans.

Upon reaching the balcony of the building, a teacher and a printing office official tried to stop the students, triggering a scuffle. Students then surrounded pro-vc Prof Main Uddin Khan. When he went to the second floor of the building, he was confined there. Several other teachers including Prof Kamal Uddin of the Department of Persian Language and Literature and registrar Prof Iftikharul Alam Masud joined him inside.

Attempts to reach vice chancellor Prof Saleh Hasan Naqib for comments were unsuccessful.

Proctor Prof Mahbubur Rahman said, “Students were protesting. The pro-vice chancellor’s car was blocked at the administration building, so he started walking home. But he was not allowed to go. Later, when he tried to enter the nearby Juberi Building for discussions, students blocked him. At one stage a scuffle broke out. I do not know who started it or how.”