Kuet: Teachers funding Shibir to face action

Kuet: Teachers funding Shibir to face action

A snapshot of the main entrance of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology – COLLECTED

The activities of Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, came to light after the arrest of 18 Shibir members in separate raids

The authorities of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (Kuet) have found that some teachers and staff are facilitating the activities of radical group Islami Chhatra Shibir on the campus, where student politics is not banned but restricted.

“The teachers, officers and staff engaged with Shibir patronise its supporters directly and indirectly to establish supremacy. They pay a hefty amount every month,” Kuet Registrar GM Shahidul Alam said.

“We are working to take action against them,” he added.

The activities of Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, came to light after the arrest of 18 Shibir members in separate raids.

“We arrested four Shibir members from a house on Kuet Road on Monday night, and 14 other Shibir men from different dormitories and messes on Tuesday for plotting to carry out subversive activities,” Khan Jahan Ali police chief Ashraful Alam said.

The arrested Chhatra Shibir members Dhaka Tribune

The arrested Chhatra Shibir members Dhaka Tribune

OC Ashraf said that the law enforcers had recovered huge amount of fund collection receipts and radical books from their possessions. “We have found a list of teachers, officers, staff and students who regularly pay money for the student group.”

He said: “From the seized register book, we got the names of mathematics teacher Prof Dr Md Moshiur Rahman, English department’s Assistant Professor Munshi Touhiduzzaman, section officers Md Monirul Islam and Sheikh Alauddin, Executive Engineer Sheikh Abu Hayat along with several employees and local traders operating in the campus area who fund Shibir.”

General students of the university demonstrated on the campus Tuesday demanding action against the arrested Shibir activists. Later the vice-chancellor assured them of taking necessary measures against the Shibir patronisers.

Although four student groups – Bangladesh Chhatra League, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Bangladesh Students’ Union and Shibir – have fully-fledged committees at Kuet, only Chhatra League has some political activities on the campus. Shibir has committees for the university and hall units.

Student Welfare Director Prof Dr Sobhan Miah said there had been no elections to central students’ union since the establishment of the university in 2003. “We have a council of teachers and student representatives from the dormitories,” he told the Dhaka Tribune Thursday.

Source: Dhaka Tribune