Sixty-six teachers of different universities on Monday condemned surge of verbal attack on Dhaka University pharmacy professor ABM Faroque by different quarters for publishing reports of his team’s research that found presence of multiple antibiotic residues in both pasteurised and non-pasteurised packed milk of different brands.
The statement of University Teachers’ Network condemned the verbal attack and behaviour of the quarter that includes public representatives, bureaucrats and officials of the milk processing companies.
Teachers said such attack was unacceptable and that was a clear threat to research and exercising knowledge in universities.
They called on the government to take effective steps to comply with the High Court order and to test milk samples available in markets and public the reports for the benefit of the people.
They expressed concern as Faroque, a researcher and former director of Biomedical Research Centre of Dhaka University, underwent pressure and threats for his research.
Faroque had shouldered his responsibility as a teacher by conducting a research, they said.
Teachers said that Faroque did no unethical act by publishing his research results.
The teachers said that the administration of the ‘autonomous’ university was neither protecting nor supporting Faroque, rather they were creating pressure on the researcher in different ways.
The signatories include Anu Muhammad, Geeti Ara Nasreen, Tasneem Siraj Mahboob, Kaberi Gayen, Fahmidul Haq and Mohammad Tanzimuddin Khan.
On June 25, a group of DU researchers led by Faroque disclosed their findings of a study they just carried out, revealing adulteration in all the samples of milk and milk products, edible oil and spices they tested.
The samples included all the popular-brand ghee, fruit drinks, pepper powder, turmeric powder, palm oil, mustard oil, soya bean oil, and pasteurised and unpasteurised milk.
On July 13, the group revealed that they again detected multiple antibiotic residues in all the 10 samples of both pasteurised and non-pasteurised cow milk they had tested at a Dhaka University laboratory.
Source: Newage
