Leaders and activists of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, allegedly assaulted Rajshahi Government City College principal professor Amina Abedin and forced her to resign from her post on Tuesday.
Witnesses said that a group of students met professor Amina Abedin in the morning and requested her to ban politics on the college campus.
When professor Abedin assured the students of imposing a ban on all kinds of politics on the college campus, a group of leaders and activists led by JCD Rajshahi Government City College unit joint convener Emdadul Haque Limon entered the college and started demonstrating, demanding immediate resignation of the principal.
As professor Amina refused to give in to the JCD activists鈥� demand, they issued a one-hour ultimatum to her to resign, witnesses said.
At about 12:30pm, when professor Amina, accompanied by her husband and son, attempted to leave the college for lunch, the activists barred them from leaving and assaulted them physically, witnesses 聽said.
Later, Rajshahi city BNP senior joint convener Nazmul Huda, accompanied by Limon and other party leaders and activists, stormed into the principal鈥檚 office at about 1:00pm and started pressuring professor Amina to resign from her post.
Professor Amina, however, stuck to her earlier decision and told the BNP people that she would not resign at any cost, even if she was killed.
When JCD activists forcibly ousted professor Amina鈥檚 husband from the office room and attempted to pick up her son, she signed the resignation letter provided by the BNP people at about 1:30pm.
When professor Amina protested at BNP and JCD people鈥檚 work stating, 鈥榊ou are no different from Awami League people, who forcibly made me do many things,鈥� Nazmul Huda became angry and asked the JCD activists to beat the principal with shoes, the witnesses said.聽
Later, the JCD activists also forced professor Amina鈥檚 son to delete the post he broadcast live on social media when he along with her mother and father was attacked.
Professor Amina Abedin said that she became the principal of the college on her own merit, not for doing any party.
鈥業 did not have any other way but to sign the letter of resignation聽 as the BNP and JCD people attempted to pick and beat my husband and son,鈥� she said.
Contacted later over the phone, BNP leader Nazmul Huda told this correspondent that he went to the college to solve the problem as a non-political聽person.
鈥楾he principal is a bad-tempered woman. She made derogatory comments about the BNP as a party that made me angry. I, however, saved her from students鈥� wrath and sent her home safely,鈥� he added.
JCD leader Emdadul Haque, however, could not be reached for his comment despite repeated attempts over the phone.
