JU suspends 12 students over ragging of freshers

Jahangirnagar University (JU) has temporarily suspended 12 students of its History Department over allegations of ragging first-year students under the pretext of teaching them "manners."

The decision was announced in an office order signed by Acting Registrar ABM Azizur Rahman on Saturday night.

According to the order, the incident took place between 11:00pm on July 3 and 2:00am on July 4, when several students from the department's 54th batch allegedly subjected 13 freshers of the 55th batch to ragging.

The university said the incident constituted a clear violation of Section 5(ng) of the Students' Discipline Ordinance-2018, which prohibits teasing, ragging and all forms of abusive behaviour within university halls, departments or any campus premises.

Based on Section 4(1)(b) of the same ordinance, the accused students have been placed under temporary suspension pending further proceedings.

The expelled students are Subhashish Roy Pranto, Nasim Uddin Majumder, Md. Abu Abtahi Anik, Naimul Hasan, Abdullah Mahdi, Isfaq Hadi, Md. Raihan Khan, Kazi Shah Jamshed Alam Nabil, Saifullah Mansur Anan, Md. Mahfuzur Rahman Anto, Kartik Chandra Roy and Naim Ahmed Shojib.

The disciplinary action follows an immediate intervention by the university's proctorial team after receiving information about the incident at the university's School and College playground.

Authorities said the victims later submitted written complaints to the university proctor, while the accused students also provided written statements admitting their involvement in the ragging incident.

The university reiterated its commitment to maintaining a safe academic environment and warned that disciplinary measures would continue against any form of ragging or harassment on campus.