Deadline to Free Teachers

Dhaka University Teachers Association issued a deadline of December 12th to release all the arrested university teachers and students in Bangladesh. The military government is simply playing with fire as they are holding these teachers and students with fabricated charges for inciting agitation. They need to release all of them before it gets too late for the arrogant military junta. Autocracy may rule couple of years but may not survive longer than that. If they have forgotten, they can read the headlines once again what happened in December of 1990 when General Ershad knelt down to the people's uprising. BDnews reports,

Dhaka, Dec 7 (bdnews24.com) – Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) at an emergency general meeting Friday evening demanded the release of all arrested university teachers and students by Dec 12.

The meeting said DUTA would be compelled to take up a "tough action programme" if the detained teachers and students of both Dhaka and Rajshahi universities were not released by the deadline. The meeting also drew up a two-day programme that includes the wearing of black badges by the teachers on Sunday and a mourning procession by the teachers from the Aparajayo Bangla monument at 11am Monday.

Acting DUTA president Tajmeri SA Islam told reporters: "If the detainees are not released by the Dec 12 deadline we will be compelled to go for a tough action programme." On whether the students would stand by them in such a programme, Tajmeri said: "This is solely a teachers' programme. I won't comment beyond that."

Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique, Prof Aktaruzzaman, Prof Md Samad, Prof MM Akash and DUTA acting general secretary Dr Mamun Ahmed were among the nearly 150 teachers present at the DUTA University Club meeting room.

The meeting, which discussed the overall situation, began at 7.00pm and continued for two and half an hours. The teachers also sought cooperation of the university authorities to conduct legal matters related to the arrests.

Four Dhaka University teachers and 15 students were arrested over a period of time following the August student unrest on the campus. A Rajshahi court sentenced four RU teachers to two years in jail on Dec 4 for violating emergency powers rules during the student protests at Rajshahi University.