An unspecified number of students and teachers were injured in a clash between protesting students of Jahangirnagar University (JU) and ‘VC-backed teachers and Chhatra League men’ on Tuesday.
The protesting teachers and students of JU had been laying a siege to the residence of Vice-chancellor Prof Dr Farzana Islam on Monday evening, demanding her removal on corruption charges.
As the protesters refused to move away from there around 12pm, the VC-backed teachers and BCL men started beating them up indiscriminately, witnesses said.
The protesters started their siege to the VC's residence to press home their demand since around 7:30pm on Monday, under the banner of ‘Jahangirnagar Against Corruption’.
Speaking on the occasion, JU unit Samajtantrik Chhatra Front preident Mahathir Muhammad said they had given the VC much time to step aside but she would not pay any heed to this.
“Instead, she has lodged a false case against the protesting students to thwart the movement,” he said.
Agitating teachers and students said they would not leave the place until the removal of the ‘controversial’ VC.
Earlier on Sunday night, the protesting teachers held a meeting with Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni to resolve the crisis. However, the meeting ended inconclusively.
The students started the protests in August, demanding a judicial inquiry into the reported involvement of the vice-chancellor with the corruption and mismanagement of a Tk 14.45-billion campus development project.
Allegations have it that the VC had managed the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) JU unit leaders with Tk 160 million from the development fund.
