Five DU assistant proctors resign after university administration’s request - Prothom Alo English

University of DahkaFive assistant proctors at the University of Dhaka (DU) have submitted resignation letters. All of them were appointed to the posts after the July mass uprising, during the tenure of the interim government. Allegations have emerged that the university administration has ‘requested’ them to step down.

Denying the allegation on Thursday afternoon, DU Proctor Associate Professor Md Israfil Ratan told Prothom Alo, “So far, I have received resignation letters from five people. Two of them submitted their letters yesterday, Wednesday, and the other three today, Thursday.”

The five who have resigned are Associate Professor Muhammad Rafiqul Islam of the Department of Arabic, Lecturer Atia Shanjida Shormi of the Department of Zoology, Associate Professor Muhammad Mahbub Kaisar of the Department of Sociology, Associate Professor Sharmin Kabir of the Institute of Education and Research, and Assistant Professor Jahangir Alam of the Department of Management Information Systems (MIS).

Notably, the University of Dhaka has 21 assistant proctors.

One of the teachers, who submitted a resignation letter, speaking to Prothom Alo on condition of anonymity said, “Sir called me in and asked me to resign. I then asked him, ‘Sir, would that be better?’ He said, ‘It would be very good if you resigned.’ Later, at his request, I agreed to resign.”

Another teacher, however, said they have resigned for personal reasons and wanted to devote more time to academic work.

Commenting on the overall situation, Proctor Israfil Ratan said, “Everyone in Bangladesh is politically aware. Whenever something like this happens, people see a political angle, whether we laugh or cry. Ultimately, however, only those concerned can say what happened. I have not felt any such pressure, nor has any such pressure been exerted on my behalf.”