BCL men obstruct classes, exams:Daily Star

Students at the closed gate of Titumir College yesterday after two factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League activists clashed on campus over the formation of a new committee of the Chhatra League unit. Photo: Banglar Chokh Chhatra League men obstructed academic activities of Government Titumir College in the capital's Mohakhali yesterday, demanding that the newly declared college unit BCL be disbande
d. A day earlier, the activists loyal to BCL leaders, who did not get any post in the two-member committee, vandalised a huge number of public vehicles stuck in traffic jam on the road by the college.  They also beat up Shahadat Hossain, a student of the management department, yesterday with rods and sticks suspecting him of being a supporter of the new leaders. Kushal Kumar Saha, HM Mirajul Islam Mahfuz, Imamul Islam Sohel, Sobuj Gazi, Jamal Hossain Atik are among those who were aspiring to the committee posts, sources in the college BCL unit said. Prof Dilara Hafiz, principal of the college, said the authorities had to suspend academic activities, including classes of all departments, as BCL men had not let students enter the campus. Interviews of the master's students were also postponed due to the unrest, she added. On Monday, central BCL president Badiuzzaman Sohag and general secretary Siddique Nazmul Alam selected Kazi Mirajul Islam Dollar and Manik Hossain as the president and general secretary of the new committee. Advertisement BCL men who are against the new leaders took position on the campus around 7:00am yesterday to bar them and their supporters from entering the premises. The agitators also drove away general students, who came to attend classes and take examinations, with rods and sticks and then locked the main gate, witnesses said. They burnt some furniture of the college and chanted slogans against the central BCL president and general secretary, demanding immediate annulment of the new committee and a council session for selection of new leaders. The college authorities opened the gate around 12:15pm after the aggrieved BCL men went to their dormitory. New college unit BCL president Dollar along with some supporters then entered the campus and hurried out after parading through the premises, witnesses said. Hearing the news, the activists against the new leaders rushed there with sticks and iron rods, looking for them and beat up Shahadat on the college playground.  They also chased students, who had queued up at the administrative building to collect application forms for admission in masters. Meanwhile, a case was filed with Banani Police Station, accusing 150 to 200 unnamed people, of involvement in the Monday's vandalism. Those, who had carried out vandalism the day before, staged demonstrations on the campus in the presence of the police but law enforcers did not arrest anyone, witnesses said.  The police did not intervene in the situation inside the campus, but was positioned at the gates to avert vandalism on the road, said Firoz Hossain Mollah, inspector (investigation) of Banani Police Station.