Jahangirnagar University protesters, who have blocked the institution's administrative buildings for the third day, have conceded to meet with the administration on condition of their three-point demands being considered with ‘sincerity.’
The students and teachers of the university have been protesting a government-approved Tk 14.45 billion development project, which involves the construction of new buildings, for which 1,150 trees need to be felled and for the formation of a judicial probe committee to look into allegations of corruption and irregularities, involving the project.
Under the banner of "Jahangirnagar against Corruption," they began their protest from 7:30 am on Thursday (Sept 5) in front of the old and new administrative building.
Vice Chancellor Farzana Islam against whom there are allegations of embezzling and distributing around Tk 20 million among three factions of the Chhatra League’s JU unit from the project fund, along with 40 other teachers went to the protesting students with a proposal of holding a dialogue.
In response the students placed the condition of the university administration stepping away from its firm stance and consider their demands with ‘sincerity.’
The VC and accompanying teachers said that they were open to discussions and agreeing to a logical solution.
The two parties agreed to meet in the evening but without the presence of anyone else other than the VC, two pro-VCs, treasurer and acting registrar, which was also part of the students’ demands.
“We are sitting for open minded dialogues with the protesting students this evening,” Pro-VC Md Amir Hossain told the media and added that they will accept the logical demands of the students.
Meanwhile, President of Jahangirnagar Cultural Alliance Md Ashikur Rahman, one of the protesting students said, “The protests and discussions will continue together. We’ll come to a decision after the discussions.”