Students of Carmichael College in Rangpur continued their complete shutdown programme for the third consecutive day on Tuesday to press home their 37-point demand, including an increased allocation of funds for development projects of the college.
The protesters urged the education adviser and the vice-chancellor of National University to visit the campus to resolve the on-going crisis.
They also announced a rail and road blockade programme on Wednesday if their demands were not addressed.
The students locked the college’s main gate and held a sit-in until 2:00pm today.
They waged the shutdown movement on Sunday to press home their 25-point demand to the college administration and a 12-point demand to the adviser and the NU VC.
The major demands also included, construction of new academic buildings including a fully furnished modern auditorium, reclamation of encroached college land and eviction of illegal shops to widen roads and improve the campus site, written commitment against transferring college land elsewhere, increasing the number of halls of residence and renovating old ones, providing at least six buses for student transport.
Bakul Roy, one of the protesters, said, ‘We waged the movement and took to the streets to realise our demands as the college administration had only given fake assurances earlier.’
Md Shajahan, a former student, said that a century-old college could not contribute to education if it remained neglected by the authorities concerned.
Several student and cultural organisations, including Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Islami Chhatra Shibir, Democratic Student Council, and Student Against Discrimination expressed solidarity with the protest.
The college principal, Mostafizur Rahman, met with the agitated students at noon and assured the students that steps were being taken.
‘We are maintaining regular contact with the National University VC and the education adviser and have informed them of the demands in writing,’ said Mostafizur.
Since Sunday, the students have been observing a complete shutdown programme on the campus.
On the first day of their demonstration, the students staged a three-hour rail and road blockade in the Lalbagh area of the city and later returned to campus only after assurances from the administration.
source: newage