Tension erupted at Bijoy Ekattor Hall of Dhaka University this evening (22 April) after allegations surfaced that the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) was barred from carrying out a mural-writing campaign inside the hall premises.
Following the incident, JCD activists staged a protest inside the hall.
The incident allegedly involved Hall Union Reading Room Secretary Tarique Rahman Shakib.
According to JCD leaders, they were conducting a “protest mural-writing” programme inside the hall when they were obstructed. In response, JCD activists later brought out a protest march.
Describing the incident, Bijoy Ekattor Hall JCD Convener Tanvir Al Hadi Mayed told The Business Standard that, as the outer walls of the hall were clean, writing on them was not allowed.
“Therefore, we did the wall-writing on unpainted, dirty sections of the wall,” he said.
He further added, “After our activists finished writing on the wall near the hall union room, they were taking photos. At that time, Hall Union Reading Room Secretary Shakib verbally abused our activists and asked who had done the wall-writing.”
“During this time, he tried to snatch the phone of Shahriar Neer, a member of the JCD convening committee, while photos were being taken,” Tanvir said.
However, while acknowledging that he had intervened, Shakib denied the allegation of attempting to snatch the phone.
“I was going to the hall union room. I saw a junior writing the word ‘gupto.’ As an elected representative of the hall, I asked them not to write it to prevent any form of violence,” he told The Business Standard.
“The allegation of snatching the phone is completely false,” Shakib added.
Bijoy Ekattor Hall Provost Professor Dr SM Ali Reza told The Business Standard that no complaint had yet been submitted to him.
“A representative of the hall union tried to obstruct the JCD’s wall-writing programme. This created tension between the two sides. However, all parties showed restraint,” he said.
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