BUET students postpone movement for Tuesday

They announced the decision around 10:30 pm, said Soumen Shikder, a 15^th batch student of Electrical and Electronic Engineering department of BUET.

Outraged by the gruesome murder, the BUET students came out of different residential halls and gathered in front of the university’s central cafeteria around 10:00 am to press home their demands.

Their other demands include expulsion of all the identified killers from the University for Life within 72 hours, the trial of the case under a tribunal, expulsion of the rangers who mentally and physically torture students for differences of opinions.

Besides, withdrawal of Sher-e-Bangla Hall provost Muhammad Jafar Iqbal Khan before 5:00 pm for his ignorance about the incident of driving out some students from the hall using political clout, bearing all the expenses of Abrar murder case by the BUET administration and compensation for Abrar’s family and banning party politics on the campus are among the demands.

Meanwhile, BUET Teachers’ Association President Prof Dr AKM Masud expressed solidarity with the protesting students and demanded exemplary punishment of those responsible for Abrar’s murder.

“The culture of ragging under the political banner should be stopped. We’ve talked to the administration several times about it, but they didn’t give any importance,” he said. Amid the protests, BUET Vice-chancellor Dr Saiful Islam on Tuesday evening assured the students that all their demands will be fulfilled.

He came up with the assurance while addressing the protesting students after a meeting with provosts of all eight residential halls on the campus. The BUET VC appeared before the students nearly 40 hours after the killing of its student Abrar Fahad.

He also lent his moral support to the eight-point demand of the students, including the arrest of all the accused in Abrar Fahad murder case and their capital punishment.

Defending his absence on the campus, Saiful Islam said he had been busy contacting ministers and higher authorities to ensure that students’ demands are met. “Everything is not under my control,” he said.

The protesting students, however, demanded that the VC must assure them in writing to meet their demands. They also announced to boycott classes until their demands are met.

Earlier in the afternoon, the BUET VC held a meeting with the provosts of all the halls.In the morning, the angry students threatened that they would announce a fresh programme if the VC did not appear on the campus by 5:00 pm. However, he came to the campus around 5:40 pm.

Dhaka 08  October (campuslive24.com)//Az