The High Court on Wednesday ordered the Islamic University authorities to suspend its five female students who were found involved in the torture and humiliation of a first year student at Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall on the campus. The HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil passed the order. The court also asked the university authorities to remove the provost from the dormitory. The five students are—vice president of IU unit Bangladesh Chhatra League Sanjida Chowdhury Antara of Statistics Department, activists Tabassum Islam of Finance and Banking Department, Israt Zahan Meem of Law Department, Halima Khatun Urmi of Fine Arts Department, Moabiya of Finance and Banking Department. The five suspended students won’t be allowed to take part in the academic activists of the university and cannot stay on the campus, said the court. Besides, it asked the IU authorities to allot Fulpori Khatun  a dormitory as per her choice. Also Read: Torture of Fulpori demonstrates university admin’s failure: Judicial inquiry report Advocate Gazi Md Mohsin stood for the writ petitioner and Advocate Shah Manjurul Haque stood for Islamic University while Deputy Attorney General tushar Kanti Roy represented the state. On Tuesday, the judicial inquiry committee formed to probe the torture on Fulpori Khatun, a first year student of Banking and Finance Department of the university, found that the girl was tortured brutally and inhumanly and the university authorities failed to act properly. It also found the five students responsible for the incident. The report was submitted before High Court bench of Justice JBM Hasan and Justice Raziq Al Jalil The HC bench fixed Wednesday for passing an order in this regard. Also Read: IU students demand expulsion of five BCL activists over torture at dormitory The inquiry committee found their involvement in the incident and said hall provost and house tutor totally failed to perform their responsibilities. The university proctor also showed negligence and indifference in discharging his duties, said the report. Fulpori, a first year student of Finance and Banking department, was tortured and humiliated by Islamic University unit of BCL vice-president Shanjida Chowdhury Antara and her cohorts at Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall on the campus in Kushtia on February 12. The incident came to light after the victim left the hall and disclosed the matter to her seniors and her family members the next day. The BCL leader also threatened that she would release the video on social media if the student discloses the matter to anyone, according to the complainant. The student lodged a written complaint with the university administration, including the university proctor, student adviser and the hall provost, demanding punishment of those involved in the incident on February 14. Two probe bodies were formed by the Islamic University authorities and the Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall administration after the victim’s complaints to them. The probe bodies submitted their probe reports to the university administration on Sunday. A writ petition was also filed by Gazi Mohammad Mohsin, an alumnus of the university and a lawyer, with the High Court. The Kushtia district administration, meanwhile, formed a three-member inquiry committee, led by additional district magistrate ANM Abujar Gifari, and asked it to submit the inquiry report within seven days following a High Court order on February 20. Accused BCL leader Antara and activist Tabassum left the hall following the High Court order. The five students were expelled from Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall on Monday as the hall authorities found their involvement in the assault on Fulpori.      

It is now two weeks since a first year student of the finance and banking department of Islamic University in Kushtia was made to endure a night of unspeakable torture and humiliation. Thanks to her courage and tenacity in filing a formal, written comlaint to the university authorities the very next day, this disturbing incident perpetrated by the university's Chhatra League unit, more specifically the leadership of the women's wing within that unit, couldn't be suppressed.  However the student body can't help but note that even though two weeks have passed since then, there has been no action taken till now against the prime accused:  IU BCL unit vice-president Shanjida Chowdhury Ontora and her cohorts, themselves all BCL activists even if not holding any post including Tabbassum, Israt Jahan Min, Halima Khatun Urmi and Maobiya. This holds true for both the university administration as well as the BCL unit.  Even thirteen days after the night of horror that played out at the Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall, authorities had failed to collect CCTV footage of that night from the hall. Many students are not surprised by that. They. allege that the number of ragging and torturing incidents have increased on campus due to the consistent lack of action against the perpetrators,  despite submitting written complaints to the university administration, as the latest victim did. REad: BCL-Torture: Prime accused appears before probe body "A couple of weeks have been passed but no action was taken against accused,"  Bangladesh Chhatra Union IU unit president Emanul Islam Shohan said. The university administration should have taken action against the accused after they had received the complaint from the victim but they did not do that, he added. IU law department Professor M Johurul Islam told UNB that the university administration could have primarily taken action against the accused under the code of conduct of the university. "There was no legal obstacle to taking action against the accused and the university authorities had many ways to take actions in this connection," he added. IU BCL unit president Faisal Siddike Arafat said that they formed a probe body in this connection. They would recommend to the central BCL to take organisational action against Ontora after getting the probe report. Ataur Rahman, father of the victim, said that he brought his daughter to the campus four times as part of the investigation. ‘The health condition of my daughter was not so good,’ he said. When asked about what he will do if she does not get justice, he said that he would lodge a case for legal action in this connection. Professor Reba Mondol, convener of the probe body formed by the university administration on February 15, could not be reached over phone despite repeated attempts for her comments in this regard. Read: VC’s leaked audio clips: IU postpones 3 departments’ recruitment process IU pro-vice-chancellor Professor M Mahbubur Rahman said that they would take stern action against the accused involved in the incident after getting the probe report. On February 12 night, a group of BCL activists led by Ontora and her cohorts including Tabassum went to the victim’s room and reportedly assaulted and tortured her. Ontora, at one stage, forced the victim to get undressed and videoed the incident on her mobile phone. The BCL leader also threatened that she would make the video viral on social media if the victim disclosed the matter to anyone, according to the complainant. The victim lodged a written complaint with the university administration, including the university proctor, student adviser and the hall provost, demanding punishment of those involved in the incident on February 14. A writ petition was also filed by Gazi Mohammad Mohsin, an alumnus of the university and a lawyer, with the High Court on Thursday. Kushtia district administration, meanwhile, formed a three-member inquiry committee, led by additional district magistrate ANM Abujar Gifari, and asked it to submit its report within seven days following a High Court order on February 20. Accused BCL leader Ontara and activist Tabassum left the hall following the High Court order. However they have reportedly apologised to the victim, effectively owning up to their guilt.

Islamic University Vice Chancellor’s personal secretary has been relieved from his post amid uproar over leak of several audio clips of conversations purportedly between the VC and a job seeker. HM Ali Hasan, acting registrar of IU, said VC’s personal secretary Ayub Ali has been relieved. “Vice-Chancellor Prof. Sheikh Abdus Salam called me on Wednesday night but I cannot go to his residence due to illness. Now I have prepared letter in this regard in the morning,” he said. Also read; VC’s leaked audio clips: IU postpones two recruitment boards However, the VC did not clear the reason behind it, he said. Earlier, on February 19, the authorities of Islamic University postponed the recruitment process of its three departments following the leak of some audio clips. A total of five audio clips, three between Oliur, a jobseeker at the Mass Communication and Journalism Department and the VC and two others with an official of a ministry went viral on Facebook. In the audio clips, the VC purportedly asked Oliur to collect two other candidates to fulfill the requirement for the department’s recruitment board.  

A group of former leaders and activists of Islamic University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student organisation of  ruling Awami League, staged a demonstration on the campus in Kushtia for the third consecutive day on Wednesday demanding vice-chancellor Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam’s resignation. Around 30 ex-BCL leaders and activists of IU went to the Vice-Chancellor’s office and kept it under lock and key in the morning, to press home their demand. The protesters vowed to continue their demonstrations on the campus until their demand was met. Earlier, eight audio clips, three between Oliur, a jobseeker at the Mass Communication and Journalism Department and the VC and two others with an official of a ministry went viral on Facebook that sparked  protest and criticism. Also Read: Ex-BCL men stage demo at IU demanding VC’s resignation In the audio clip, the VC purportedly asked Oliur to collect two other candidates to fulfill the requirement for the department’s recruitment board. According to the audio clips, the VC told Oliur that he, Oliur, failed to write his answer to the question of the recruitment test held on October 25, 2022. He also told him that he was not good at his IQ. Also Read: VC’s leaked audio clips: IU postpones 3 departments’ recruitment process The VC advised him over the phone regarding the recruitment test. He assured Oliur that he did not accept the recruitment policy of the University Grants Commission regarding the requirement process of recruiting teachers at Journalism department. IU BCL unit former organising secretary Rasel Joarder told UNB that the vice-chancellor was a corrupt person the audio conversations between him and the job seeker that went viral on social media proved that. Also Read: HC orders Kushtia DC to probe ragging of a female student at IU On Friday night, IU acting registrar HM Ali Hasan filed a general diary with Islamic University police station in this connection.

The High Court on Thursday asked the deputy commissioner of Kushtia to form a three-member probe body to investigate the ragging of a female student allegedly by a leader and some activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League at Islamic University . The HC bench of Justice JBM Hassan and Justice Razik-Al-Jalil passed the order and asked the DC to form the committee with a judicial magistrate, an executive magistrate and a teacher and submit the report within seven days. The court also asked the committee formed by the university to submit the probe report within 10 days and keep the two accused BCL activists from outside the campus during investigation. It also asked the authorities concerned to ensure security of the victim. Earlier, a Supreme Court lawyer, Gazi Md Mohsin, drew the attention of the court about the incident after attaching a report published in a national daily on February 14. He also filed a writ petition seeking further investigation into the incident. Secretaries to the Home Ministry, Education Ministry, Vice-chancellor of Islami University, its registrar and proctor were made respondents to the writ. Advocate Gazi Md Mohsin stood for the petitioner while deputy attorney general Tushar Kanti Roy represented the state. According to the report, a first year student of Finance and Banking department, was tortured and harassed by allegedly by Islamic University unit Bangladesh Chhatra League vice-president Shanjida Chowdhury Ontora and her cohorts including Tabassum at Deshratna Sheikh Hasina Hall on the campus in Kushtia on Sunday night. The incident came to light after the victim left the hall and disclosed the matter to her seniors and her family members on Monday. Read more: Body formed to probe ragging ‘by BCL leader, assocaites’ at IU They unleashed the torture on the victim from 11 pm to 3 am. The victim on Tuesday submitted a written complaint to the university proctor, student adviser and the hall provost, demanding punishment for those involved in the incident. According to the complaint, on February 9, Tabassum asked the victim to go to the Projapoti-2 room of hall but victim failed to do so due to sickness. Later, Tabassum threatened the victim to drive her out of the dormitory.          

Forty-two students of the Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia have won the Science and Technology Fellowship 2022-23 for special research under the Ministry of Science and Technology. Twenty-nine students from the biotechnology and genetic engineering department, six from applied chemistry and chemical engineering, and three students from mathematics received the fellowship, IU acting registrar HM Ali Hasan said on Thursday. Also, two students from the electrical and electronic engineering department and one each from the statistics and applied nutrition and food technology departments were selected for the fellowship, he added. Each student will get Tk54,000 under the fellowship programme, Ali said.  

Over 1,300 seats for undergraduate courses at the Islamic University in Kushtia remained unfilled after two rounds of allotment in the 2021-22 academic session. Not even 60 percent of the candidates who secured admission in the university's first round of seat allocations, against 1,990 seats, got admitted. Through the unified admission test, 664 students gained admission from the first and second merit lists, IU Academic Section Office officials said on Friday. Read more: Harassment of IU student: fellows demand punishment of BCL activist Among the 1, 326 seats, 683 seats remain vacant in the science faculty; 395 in arts, social science and law faculties and 248 in the business administration faculty, IU academic section Director ATM Emdadul Alam told UNB. The vacant seats would be fulfilled by enrolling students from the next rounds of allotment, he added.

The Islamic University (IU), the largest seat of higher education in the southwestern part of the country, will celebrate its 44th University Day in Kushtia Tuesday marking its 43rd founding anniversary. The daylong celebration includes the hoisting of the national and university flags, a colourful procession, a discussion programme and a cultural event, IU information, publication and public relations office Deputy Director Rajibul Islam Kanok, said Sunday. Marking the day, IU Vice-Chancellor Professor Shaikh Abdus Salam will hoist the national flag and its Pro-Vice-Chancellor M Mahbubur Rahman the university flag in the morning. The vice-chancellor will inaugurate the programmes at 10:30am. Later, the teachers, officials, students and staff of the university will bring out a colourful procession led by the vice-chancellor on the campus. Read: Experts urge government to turn DSE into public university The procession will end at Bangla Moncha adjacent to the university's Arts Building. After that, discussions and cultural programmes will be held there. Situated 24 kilometres south of Kushtia and 22 kilometres north of Jhenaidah town in the lush green countryside, IU is bypassed by the Khulna-Kushtia National highway. The passing of the Islamic University Act in 1980 conferred this institution the permanent prestige of being the first university established after the independence of Bangladesh.  

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has approved a budget of nearly Tk 160 crore for Islamic University (IU) in Kushtia for the 2022-23 financial year. Of Tk 159.69 crore, Tk 1.42 crore (0.89 per cent) has been allocated as expenses for research this year, according to a university release. IU treasurer Prof Alamgir Hossain Bhuiya said that they had proposed a budget of Tk 210.40 crore to the UGC but it approved Tk 159.69 crore for the university. Also Read: RU student suspended for harassing teacher  

Police arrested two activists of Islamic University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League, student wing of ruling Awami League, along with hemp from in front of the university's main entrance on Friday. The arrestees were identified as Tanu Shikder, a former student of public administration department under 2014-15 academic session and Gulhar Masud Rana Rifat, a final year student of the same department of the university. They were the activists of IU BCL unit. Tanu was also the incumbent general secretary of IU unit Muktijoddha Mancha. Acting on a tip off, a team of IU police conducted a drive in front of the university's main entrance and arrested the duo along with 25gram of hemp from their possession around 5:30pm, Islamic University police station sub-inspector Onik said. They were taken to IU police station for interrogation and legal action would be taken against them, the SI added. The process of filing a case with the police station under the Narcotics Act was underway, IU police station officer-in-charge Mostafizur Rahman said.  Alsor read: Man held with 63kg hemp