Deadlock prevails at BEC as agitation continues
Barishal Correspondent :
The agitation at Barishal Engineering College (BEC) continued on Sunday after locking academic and administrative buildings on January 15.
Mentionable no effective solution was found despite continuous agitation by boycotting classes and exams since last four months.
BEC started academic activities since 2018 on 8 acres of land located on Barishal-Bhola Road near Barishal University campusin Barisal city.
Md. Liton Rabbani, principal (additional charges) of BEC acknowledging facts, said they have reported the current situation to higher authority and concerned ministry.
The agitated students held a protest rally in the college premises on Sunday noon and then with a procession moved surrounding the roads near the campus.
During the protest, the students said that they had joined the movement about six months ago with various reasonable demands like recognizing their status equivalent to BUET, solving housing crisis, expanding library and practical facilities etc.
At that time, a five-member high-powered committee was formed on the initiative of the education advisor.
The committee prepared a report based on recommendations through discussions with student representatives and teachers and visiting campus.
Although the report was unanimously accepted and peacefully supported by the general students, there has been no visible progress in its implementation even after a long time.
The students alleged that a vested interest group was obstructing the implementation process of the report by ignoring the opinions of the general students. This has created extreme anger and frustration among the students.
In this situation, the students gave a two-day ultimatum demanding the speedy implementation of the report and submitted a memorandum through the District Administrator, the concerned regional office and the college administration.
However, as no clear or satisfactory response was received so far, a complete shutdown of all academic and administrative activities of the college was announced for an indefinite period as per the decision of the general students.
Protesting student Md. Sadiq said although the authorities accepted the demands but did not implement them.
Student Apurba Kumar Das said, about 400 students are participating in the protest.
Students Ragib Shahriar, Lutfar Rahman, Ahnaf Pramanik and others also spoke at the protest rally.
The agitating students made it clear that they do not want to create any kind of chaos.
They are always ready to resolve the problem through discussions.
However, it was also warned that if practical and visible steps are not taken quickly, they will be forced to take more stringent measures in the future.
Seeking the immediate intervention of the Directorate of Technical Education and education ministry, the students expect support from all levels for their reasonable demands.