Rajshahi University students on Sunday demanded a nine-point charter of demands, including immediate announcement of a complete election schedule for the university central students’ union election.
They came up with the demands while addressing a press conference under the banner of the RU Reform Movement at the university’s transport market area.
Their other demands includeed announcing a complete roadmap for full residential facilities; ensuring anonymous exam scripts evaluation and allowing students to challenge the results; ensuring round-the-clock security on campus; upgrading the university medical centre to a fully functional 50-bed facility; digitisation of all administrative activities for a cashless campus; sufficient subsidies for quality dining food; infrastructural and technological upgrades to the central library; and the swift activation of a fully functional Teacher-Student Cultural Centre complex.
Salahuddin Ammar, one of the former coordinators of Students Movement Against Discrimination, said that although nearly 10 months had already elapsed since the July mass-uprisings, the RU administration had completely failed to meet the legitimate expectations of the students.
‘We have approached the university administration several times regarding various issues on the campus, but each time they disappointed us,’ he said, adding, ‘We have now set a deadline until June 20. If the administration fails to respond by then, we will launch awareness programmes from June 21 to 28, including outreach in every hall and department, leaflet distribution, and graffiti.’
Salahuddin said that from June 29, a final phase of the movement titled March for Rights would be launched if the demands were not met. ‘This phase will include a boycott of all classes and examinations along with various ground-level actions until the demands are fulfilled.’
About 50 students of various departments were present at the press conference.
