A group of students at Chittagong University staged a demonstration on Sunday, demanding the withdrawal of the expulsion order against nine of the 12 female students recently penalised by the administration.
The protesters also called for the resignation of CU proctor professor Tanvir Mohammad Haidar Arif, condemning his recent remarks.
The demonstration took place on the university鈥檚 Central Shaheed Minar premises on Sunday noon.
Al Mashnun, media cell coordinator of Students Against Discrimination, told reporters, 鈥楽everal students attempted to break a boat-shaped structure on the night of February 5, and instead of taking action against the actual perpetrators, the university administration unfairly expelled our female fellows. On top of that, the proctor made derogatory comments on Facebook.鈥�
鈥榃e demand withdrawal of the expulsion order, and resignation of the proctor,鈥� he added.
When asked about his Facebook post, proctor Tanvir Mohammad Haidar Arif said, 鈥楳y post aimed at a few opportunists who tried to exploit situations for personal gains.鈥�
Earlier, the controversy stemmed from February 5 incident, when several students attempted to demolish a boat-shaped structure in front of Jananetri Sheikh Hasina Hall. This led to a confrontation with residential students of the hall.
The university proctorial body arrived at the scene, but another dispute ensued between its members and the hall residents.
Following the incident, on February 13, the university鈥檚 Board of Residence, Health, and Discipline expelled 12 students for varying durations on charges including misconduct, assault on an assistant proctor, and religious defamation.
The residential students of the hall denied supporting the vandalism.
They claimed that they had previously petitioned the administration to remove the structure but got no response.
They said that a group of students took the law into their own hands at midnight and behaved inappropriately with the female residents, prompting their protest.
Five of the expelled students, meanwhile, held a press conference at Soloshahar Railway Station in the city on Sunday evening where they placed their six-point demand.
Their demands included resignation of proctor Tanvir Mohammad Haider Arif for his derogatory remarks on social media, cancellation of the expulsion order within three days, taking action against those students involved in the attack, renaming of all campus establishments and halls associated with fascist figures to avoid future conflicts.
