Staff Correspondent

Students of Dhaka University on Thursday formed a human chain stretching from Aparajeya Bangla to Curzon Hall to press for immediate release of their fellows and teachers and withdrawal of the cases filed in connection with the August campus protests.

Participation in the programme under the banner of Students Against Repression was significant with many of students skipping classes and examinations to take part in it.

Another platform, Chhatrabandhu, gave an 'ultimatum' to the government to release the students and teachers by Saturday announcing that otherwise they would boycott classes and examinations.

The Students against Repression after a meeting in the afternoon decided to keep black flags hoisted atop all administrative buildings of the university until their demands were met. They will also skip classes for two hours on Saturday.

The programme began at 11:00 and within 20 minutes the human chain connected Aprajeya Bangla and the Curzon Hall.

The protesters carried placards reading slogans for release of their fellows and teachers and free environment at the university. They also called for immediate withdrawal of the state of emergency.

They also denounced the framing of charges against 25 students by the police for their alleged involvement in torching a military vehicle during demonstrations on August 22.

No teacher joined students' protests on Thursday but many expressed solidarity with them. Former president of Dhaka University Teachers' Associaton AAMS Arefin Siddique supported the students' demands. 'Any case can be withdrawn within legal process. The government can withdraw any case anytime by exercising its executive power,' he said.

But the acting president of the teachers' association, Tajmeri SA Islam, said that the students taking part in such protest programme skipping classes and examinations was 'frustrating'. 'They could voice their protests by other means. We all want to have the teachers and students released,' she said.

Talking to newsmen, the university vice-chancellor, SMA Faiz, said he would not comment on the students' protests. 'But everyone demands that the teachers and students should be released. At the same time it is not wise to go for movement skipping classes and examinations… I hope the government will put an end to the issue,' he said.

A delegation of Awami League-backed Bangladesh Chhatra League met the vice-chancellor on the day and expressed their resentment at pressing the charge of vandalism against the organisation's university unit president Sohel Rana Tipu.

The Workers Party of Bangladesh in a statement also demanded immediate release of the teachers and students and warned that the government's indecision regarding the issue could 'push the situation to the point of no return'.

Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal convener Khalequzzman said the government was showing a 'dubious' attitude towards the issue of the detained teachers and students and 'it will have to take responsibility if the situation turns for the worse'.

The Jatiya Mukti Council president Badruddin Umar and secretary Faizul Hakim in a statement demanded immediate release of the teachers and students.

Sixty-two teachers of Rajshahi University in a statement also called for release of all teachers and students detained in connection with the August campus protests in Rajshahi and Dhaka.

The university teachers in their statement said, 'Four Dhaka University teachers — Professors Anwar Hossain, Harun-or-Rashid, Sadrul Amin and Neem Chandra Bhowmik — are in jail without any reasonable ground. In absence of these prominent teachers their families and the university are facing problems.'

They demanded unconditional release of all detained students, teachers and employees of the DU and the RU.

Former vice-chancellor Professor Saidur Rahman Khan, Moloy Kumar Bhowmik, Abdullah Al Mamun, Selim Reza Newton, Abul Mansur Ahmed, Dil Afroz, M Fayekuzzaman, Shamsuddin Eliyas, M Jalal Uddin and Mokhlesur Rahman were among the signatories.

The Students against Authoritarianism at Rajshahi University on Thursday gave a five-day ultimatum to the government to release all the detained students, teachers and employees, or, the forum said, they would go for action programmes like class boycott, human chain and strike.

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