White panel to compete without Jamaat

RU Correspondent :
The election of 15-members executive committee of Rajshahi University Teachers Association (RUTA) will be held on February 24.
The EC comprises five secretariat and ten executive member posts. EC have finalised the candidate of two panels yesterday.
Meanwhile, the white panel, which had been contested with BNP-Jamaat backed teachers of the university since 1991, will contest this year without Jamaat backed teachers.
Earlier on 2009, a faction of BNP backed teachers contested in the polls discretely under golden panel protesting Jamaat connections.
White panel teachers sources said, This year white and golden panels will contest unanimously following to give up Jamaat backed teachers from white panel.
RU administration sources said pro-Awami League teachers including RU Progressive Teachers Society (PTS) will contest in the poll through Yellow Panel while pro-BNP backed alliance including BNP’s faction ‘golden panel’ through White Panel.
The Yellow Panel candidates for the posts of president and general secretary are Prof Kamrul Hasan Majumdar of Geology and Mining department and Prof Pranab Kumar Pandey of Public Administration department respectively.
Prof Dr Afrauzzaman Khan Chowdhury of Finance and Banking department and Prof Amirul Islam of Bio-chemistry and Molecular Biology department will vie for the posts of president and general secretary from white panel.
Sources said, BNP-Jamaat teachers had been contesting unanimously in the RUTA elections since 1991.
“This year, Jamaat demanded the post of treasurer in RUTA, but BNP denied giving that post adding this is first time Jamaat men were not contesting in any posts”, a teacher said seeking anonymity.
Contacted, Prof Dr Afrauzzaman Khan Chowdhury, president of Nationalist Teachers Forum of the university told that Jamaat-backed teachers were not contesting in any posts of RUTA polls in this year.
“But Jamaat teachers are with us”, he added.
RUTA election commissioner Prof Saiful Islam said the two panels have been finalised yesterday after a day of submitting their nomination papers.
On Tuesday, yellow and white panel’s candidates submitted their nomination paper to contest in Ruta polls.