On 11th August, students of the Department of Law and Justice at Jahangirnagar University (JU) staged a protest and formed a human chain demanding the removal of two teachers from the department. The two teachers, who have been identified as Professor Tapas Kumar and Associate Professor Supravat Pal, have been asked by the students to step down within 24 hours. If the teachers fail to resign, students threaten to declare them unwanted at the campus. The reason behind demanding their resignation has been stated as irregularities and harassment. However, the social media posts regarding these demands contradict the reasons as it has been said that they were asked to step down as they are Hindus.
The protests took place at Shaheed Minar of the University at around 11:30 AM. Students also locked the department stating that it would remain locked until the two professors resigned from their post. Tapas Kumar is the chairman of the department and dean of the faculty.
Contradictory social media posts
OpIndia came across some social media posts that claimed that the professors have been asked to step down accusing them of harassing Muslim students. The post read, “Tapas Kumar Das and Supravat Pal, two teachers from JU’s Law Department, would harass students just by seeing a beard and cap. Students formed a human chain demanding their resignation.”
Another post by the same social media handle JU Insider accused another Hindu employee of the University, Palash Saha, of working as a warden for 8 years without knowing the duties of his post. The social media post, written in Bengali, read, “Asked Warden Palash Saha, sir, you are doing the duty of Warden for 8 years. What is the responsibility of the warden? He said, to be honest. I have performed warden for 8 years but don’t know what warden is. Would you like to ask more questions after this?”
Allegations raised by students against the two professors
Students alleged that there had been at least 11 incidents of irregularities and harassment. They accused Professor Das of harassing the students in various ways. Reportedly, the professor called the parents of the students and urged them to talk to their children to withdraw from the protest.
Students claimed that Professor Das, being a member of the legal support cell, recommended junior lawyers instead of having skilled lawyers among the former students of the department. They claimed that there were financial and anti-protest political motives behind recommending the junior lawyers.
On the other hand, associate Professor Supravat Pal has been accused of physically assaulting a student in public. Students claimed he also kicked two female students from the current batch. They claimed that a female student posted on social media claiming extramarital sexual harassment by the dean of the law faculty after which she was harassed and forced to leave the university.
They also accused both of using students for personal errands and in exchange increased the grades of some students. Furthermore, they accused them of hiring unqualified and incompetent part-time teachers, who according to the students, were appointed through favouritism by the dean and his supporting teachers.
Speaking to the media, a student named Rezaul Haque Rahi said, “During the protest, the police detained us. Even after we identified ourselves as students, they did not release us. When we called our dean, Tapas Sir, he identified us not as students but as troublemakers.”
Another student said, “On the night of July 15, one of our juniors was shot. When the student’s father called the dean for security, the dean responded, ‘Why is your son standing against the Chhatra League when he is from Sohel’s area (the president of Chhatra League)?’ As a dean, he even threatened the student’s father, saying, ‘How dare your son stand against the Chhatra League?’ Such servility is unbecoming of a teacher.”
In light of these social media posts, the complaints against the two Hindu professors may be a guise for a more insidious agenda. It appears that they are being targeted not for genuine misconduct but rather for their religious identity. Such actions amidst the ongoing attack on Hindus in politically torn Bangladesh raise alarm concerning the growing intolerance and discrimination against the Hindu community including those who are in academia.
