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The authorities of Dhaka University’s Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall have allegedly harassed students in the name of investigating the reported abuses of quota protesters by Iffat Jahan Isha, a leader of the ruling Awami League’s student wing.
Students said the harassment stemmed from an interrogation over their Facebook posts about Isha’s alleged assaults on several quota protesters.
In the middle of Thursday night, several students have been forced out of their dormitory and their mobile phones have been seized following the interrogation, according to DU students.
In response to the DU authorities’ action, quota reform protesters who identify themselves as defenders of student rights will bring out rallies at 4pm Friday in Dhaka and elsewhere.
The dormitory’s house tutor Afroza Bulbul admitted that some students have been handed over to their parents. But she declined to comment on the midnight harassment.
Provost Sabita Rezwana Rahman did not respond to phone calls for comment.
Asked to comment on the allegations of harassment, DU Vice-Chancellor Professor Md Akhtaruzzaman dismissed the midnight incident as a rumour.
The committee formed to probe assaults on quota protesters has the right to interrogate any student for the sake of the investigation, he said.
The DU authorities launched the probe into the incident that occurred on Apr 10 when quota protesters burst into protests against Isha.
Following the incident, DU Proctor Prof Golam Rabban decided to temporarily expel Isha.
Later, the DU authorities withdrew the expulsion order claiming that the probe panel found no evidence of Isha’s involvement in assaults on her fellow students.
The university instead decided to take disciplinary action against 26 female students of the hall over the incident.
Then, the university started interrogating those students amid allegations of intimidation to extract confessions from them.
Moreover, the university authorities summoned the guardians of some students in the middle of the night, further angering the protesters.
A security guard posted in front of the dormitory said he has seen some students leaving the hall on Thursday evening.
Abdual Awal, a guardian, said: “I phoned my sister. But a teacher received the call. He requested me to visit the hall immediately.”
Shortly after midnight, a guardian was seen coming out of the hall with a student. When approached by the reporters, they declined to make any comment.
Another guardian, Md Faruq, was seen standing in front of the hall at 12:30am Friday. He along with his brother Kamrul Hasan came from Dhamrai to receive his daughter.
Faruq said, “I was called by the university and asked to take away my daughter. I came here despite rain and storms.”
Kamrul said: “I’ve been instructed to make my niece understand the situation and not to take part in the protests.”
A student requesting not to be named said more than 100 students gathered and tried to speak to the provost. “Whoever went to talk to him, their names were noted down,” the student alleged.
“Our phones have been checked for Facebook posts and we were asked to disclose the names involved with the protests.”
“We said thousands of female students participated in the protests. Then, we were asked to give a list of those names and he said all protesters would be driven out of the hall.”
Meanwhile, around 1:30am on Friday Yasin Arafat, a student of International Business Department, staged a solo protest calling for the resignation of the provost.
According to bdnews24, some leaders of the platform, including convener Hasan Al Mamun and joint convener Nurul Haque Nur, rushed to the scene and led him away.
“Why did the authorities call guardians in the middle of the night asking them to take away students from the hall? It’s a heinous incident.”