BUET:"A fool against a good man, Shame."
Mahbubur Razzaque
BUET teachers go on indefinite work-stoppage [Independent; May 06]
The deadlock in the Bangladesh University of
Engineering and Technology (BUET) aggravated further with the beginning of
a non-stop work
abstention by teachers and officers from Tuesday to
compel the authorities concerned to reinstate the Vice-Chancellor, Prof
Iqbal Mahmud.
Meanwhile, some remarks made by Education Minister
ASHK Sadeque at a press conference on Tuesday has further worsened the
situation in the
University.
When contacted, the BUET Teachers' Association
President Prof Abdur Razzaq Akhand told The Independent last night that
they were planning to
hold a meeting with the Education Minister on
Wednesday as per his desire to discuss the deadlock, but that the
Minister's remarks regarding the crisis
at a press conference might delay the meeting.
"We decided on Wednesday to meet the Minister tomorrow
but his remarks about finding a political reason behind the crisis hit the
sentiment of the
teachers," the Association President said adding they
would hold a meeting again on the campus on Wednesday to assess the
sentiments of the
teachers. On the basis of the opinion at the meeting,
they would decide whether they would meet the Minister or not, he added.
He said that the Education Minister had phoned him on
Monday night and expressed his desire to hold a meeting with the Executive
Committee of the
Association.
He also said that they were waiting for an appointment
to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also the Chancellor of the BUET. The
Association
would also hold a meeting with the Prime Minister's
Political Adviser Dr SA Malek within a day or two to discuss the issue, he
added.
Responding to a question about the possible solution
to the BUET crisis, Prof Akhand asserted: "The crisis may end tomorrow if
the government
cooperates with us." "Our demand is simple, i.e.
restoration of VC Prof Iqbal Mahmud and allowing him to work independently
without any
interference," he added.
Meanwhile, different professional and political
organisations of the city have condemned what they termed government
interference into University
affairs, particularly the Engineering University rated
as an institution of high esteem and ranked 18th in terms of its
educational standard in the world.
The impasse originated in the BUET following an
unprecedented en masse resignation of 70 teachers including the VC, all
deans, departmental heads,
directors, provosts and assistant provosts of the
residential halls on Monday to protest the reported interference of the
government in university affairs.
The crisis erupted over the resignation of 13 teachers
of the Architecture Department in protest against a new admission system
in their department.
Following the deadlock and the non-stop work
abstention programmes by teachers and officers, no classes were held on
Tuesday. Turnout of students
was however normal.
The BUET Teachers' Association in an emergency meeting
on Monday night decided to abstain from work for an indefinite period. The
meeting was
largely attended by the teachers. Out of 330 teachers
of the university 270 were present in the meeting. The Officers'
Association at an emergency
general meeting held on Tuesday with its President M
Asadullah Khan in the chair also decided to observe work abstention for an
indefinite period.
According to a press release signed by the Officers'
Association President Asadullah Khan and General Secretary Rafiqul Islam,
the Officers'
Association decided in the meeting to continue the
complete work abstention from Tuesday until the government makes
announcement that it would
reinstate VC Prof Iqbal Mahmud with full status and
dignity and announce that it would not create any impediments in future to
his conducting the
university as per the university ordinance and the
autonomy.
Meanwhile, Prof Iqbal Mahmud on Tuesday went to the
office of his department of Chemical Engineering and stayed there for some
time. But he did
not go to the VC office.
Several hundred students under the banner of the BUET
Common Students took out a procession on the campus on Tuesday, denouncing
the
government intervention into the university autonomy'.
The processionists shouted slogans and held a rally at the cafeteria
premises and demanded of
the government to reinstate the VC. However, no
student bodies belonging to different political parties brought out
processions on the campus. A
banner hung by the processionists on the campus read:
"A fool against a good man, Shame."
An official of the BUET describing the university's
present condition said: "The university looks like an orphan".
Meanwhile, it is learnt that a meeting of the
Syndicate held on May 3 last adopted a resolution to reinstate the 13
teachers of the Architecture
department, following the pressure of the six outsider
members. The resolution was enlisted in the minutes of the meeting but the
VC could not put his
signature on the minutes and was forced to quit the
job following the telephone call of the Prime Minister's Political Adviser
in the morning on
Monday.
The BUET Teachers' Association at its emergency
meeting held on Monday termed the decision of the May 3 Syndicate meeting
illegal. The
Association strongly criticised the decision and
demanded its cancellation.
Different organisations and personalities on Tuesday
issued statements condemning the deadlock in the BUET.
BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia expressed concern
over the en masse resignation of the VC and other top functionaries.
A meeting of the executive committee of the Engineers
Institution, Bangladesh held on Tuesday with its President Prof MA Hannan
in the chair
described the deadlock in the BUET as unwanted and
hoped that the government would find out a logical and justified solution
to the crisis for the
sake of the country and the nation.
The meeting was attended by Serajul Majid Mamun, Dr.
MAK Azad, ANH Akhter Hossain, M Nuruzzaman, Mesbahur Rahman Tutul and Khan
Manjur Morshed.
Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Maulana Matiur
Rahman Nizami also expressed deep concern over the resignation of the VC
and other teachers and
demanded of the government to accept the demand of the
teachers and resolve the crisis through negotiations.
A total of 128 noted citizens under Shata Nagarik
Committee on Tuesday expressed concern over the resignation of 70 BUET
teachers including the
VC. They also criticised the government for the
current situation in different educational institutions including
universities.
The signatories to the statement included Prof Dr MA
Mazed, Prof Askar Ibne Shaikh, Prof Emajuddin Ahmed, Prof Maniruzzaman
Mian, Prof RI
Chowdhury, Prof Abdul Hamid, Prof Shah Mohammad Faruq,
Reazuddin Ahmed, Sadek Khan, Enayetullah Khan, Prof Asaduzzaman and Prof
Yusuf Haider.
Jahangirnagar University Teachers' Association (JUTA)
President Prof Jasimuddin Ahmed and General Secretary Prof Sheikh Manjurul
Haq and
Jatiya Janata Party President Sheikh Asad also issued
statements condemning the deadlock in the BUET.
ZRahman986
Education Minister tells press
BUET to have new VC if resignation not withdrawn
By Staff Correspondent Daily Star 5/6/98
Education Minister ASHK Sadique yesterday expressed the hope that the
Vice-Chancellor and teachers of BUET who resigned from their administrative
posts would withdraw their resignation and help restore normalcy on the campus.
Otherwise, the government may have to appoint a new VC, he told a press
conference at the Education Ministry.
Vice-Chancellor Prof Iqbal Mahmud and 71 teachers resigned from their
administrative posts on Monday amid reports of government interference in the
affairs of the BUET.
But the education minister refuted the allegation and said Chancellor of the
university Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina "did not even exercise her powers
conferred on her by the BUET Ordinance of 1961."
Quoting from the Ordinance, the minister said that the Chancellor could take
any decision to meet any emergency situation under Section 10(6) of the
Ordinance.
The Chancellor did not issue orders as per the Ordinance. Rather, she always
wanted a solution on the basis of consensus, he said.
Responding to a question if a new VC would be appointed, Sadique said, "The
government will not allow the BUET to become inoperative. The University is run
with taxpayers money. We shall expect an amicable solution and hope that the VC
would withdraw his resignation. Otherwise, for restoring normalcy, we may have
to appoint a new Vice-Chancellor."
"We shall watch the situation for some time and then go ahead making changes.''
"It is expected that in any case, they will continue their work till there is
an amicable solution or their resignations are accepted."
The education minister accused the VC and teachers of "breaching and
understanding with the Chancellor by reviving the issue of resignation of 13
teachers of Architecture department of BUET and going for an en masse
resignation.
Thirteen teachers of the Architecture Department resigned in March protesting
new admission rules for the department.
Replying to another question he said that members of the BUET Teachers'
Association were invited to discuss the matter but they did not respond till
noon yesterday.
The minister said he was "surprised that the teachers acted without logic".
"They could have done this before the admission tests were taken on March 28.
But they did it after everything went in their favour," he said.
When his attention was drawn to the statement of the BUET Teachers' Association
that it would not accept anyone from inside or outside the university as the VC
other than Prof Iqbal Mahmood, the minister replied. "I know there are many
teachers who are eager to be the VC of BUET."
Many of the teachers expressed their willingness and lobbied for becoming the
Vice Chancellor of BUET before Iqbal Mahmood was appointed, Sadek claimed.
"To ease the pressure from the lobbyists, we decided to appoint Iqbal Mahmood,
the senior most teachers, as the Vice-Chancellor, he said.
Asked if he thought there was any political motive behind the en masse
resignation, he said, "It is not unlikely".
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Mahbubur Razzaque wrote:
><HTML><PRE>Subject: BUET:"A fool against a good man, Shame."
>From: r...@mech.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp (Mahbubur Razzaque)
>Date: Wed, May 6, 1998 06:51 EDT
>Message-id: <raz-060598...@anju.t.u-tokyo.ac.jp>
></PRE></HTML>