Rapes at JU, Subarnachar: Protest on, teachers, students form new platform
JU correspondent :
Students and teachers of Jahangirnagar University (JU) continued their demonstrations for the third consecutive day in response to a gang rape incident that occurred on the university campus on February 3.
In a collective response to the incident, they established a new group named Nipiron Birodhi Moncho (Platform Against Oppression) on Tuesday.
Professor Rayhan Rhyne from the Philosophy department was appointed as the convener, and Mahfuz Islam Megh, a post-graduate student from the Department of Environmental Science, was named the member secretary of the platform.
Approximately 150 protesters organized a human chain under the Nipiron Biruddhi Moncho banner, advocating for a 4-point demand list.
The demonstration took place around 12:00 pm near the central Shaheed Minar of the university.
Their demands included a speedy trial for the perpetrators, eviction of non-students from dormitories, an investigation into the roles of the provost and proctor in relation to the rape incident, and the expulsion of Mahmudur Rahman Joni, who has been accused of moral turpitude.
During the human chain, Ahsan Labib, the office secretary of Jahangirnagar Sangskrittik Jote, criticized the controversial roles of the Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall provost and the university proctor regarding their duties and called for their immediate resignation due to the loss of moral rights to hold their posts.
Anichha Parvin Jolly, a professor from the History department, expressed dissatisfaction with the administration’s actions, highlighting their failure to remove non-students from the dormitories and their lack of progress in investigating the matters.
She also accused the university’s administration of being indifferent to a case of sexual harassment involving Mahmudur Rahman Joni from the Public Health and Informatics department, allegedly because he is a pro-Awami League teacher.
Additionally, JU Chhatra League and JU Chhatra Union also staged protests as part of the ongoing series of demonstrations against the incident.
The protests were sparked by an incident on February 3, where Mustafizur Rahman, a leader from the JU branch of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), and his associate Mamunur Rashid committed rape in a jungle on the university campus, while confining the victim’s husband in the Mir Mosharraf Hossain Hall.
Following the incident, police arrested three students from the residential hall who assisted Mustafizur Rahman in fleeing.
A case has been filed at the Ashulia Police Station, and a Dhaka court has granted a three-day remand for the investigation.
