Residential students of AFM Kamaluddin Hall at Jahangirnagar University (JU) on Sunday locked the main gate of Registrar Building, staging a sit-in and playing cricket in front of it to protest against administrative procrastination.
The demonstration was launched to press for a four-point charter of demands regarding hall infrastructure and playing field renovations.
Students said their playing field was severely damaged three to four years ago during Central Library expansion works.
Although promised a swift restoration, no action has been taken, leaving them deprived of sports facilities.
They also highlighted a disparity in amenities compared to other halls and mentioned that the lack of proper internal connecting roads causes immense suffering to residents navigating the premises with vehicles.
On 27 August, AFM Kamaluddin Hall Parliament submitted a memorandum to the vice-chancellor, subsequently boycotting a coordination meeting they termed “insincere and time-wasting.”
They set a deadline of 3 September.
The students’ demands include complete renovation of fourth-floor roof, installing tiles on the walls of 19 rooms adjacent to washrooms, constructing an internal connecting road, starting playing field repairs, and reinstalling barbed-wire security fence.
Administrative delay
With no visible progress by the deadline, students blockaded the administrative building.
Shimul Hasan, a Philosophy Department student of the 50th batch, criticized the administrative procrastination in the tendering process.
Abrar Hossain, general secretary of Hall Parliament, said they had raised these demands for a year, but the administration deferred the matter under various pretexts.
He added that the vice-chancellor, two pro-vice-chancellors, and the treasurer were given the 3 September deadline, and the blockade would continue until visible initiatives are taken.
