Six DU assistant proctors resign after administration’s request

Six assistant proctors of Dhaka University (DU) have submitted resignation letter from their posts, citing personal, family and academic issues, amid allegations that the university administration requested them to step down.

The teachers, who were appointed during the interim government following the July uprising and were also active in the movement, submitted their resignation letters on Wednesday and Thursday.

Several of them said they had been requested by the university administration to leave their positions.

Asked whether administrative pressure had been applied to secure their resignations, DU Proctor and Associate Professor Md Israfil Ratan told Daily Sun, "No pressure was applied; a request was made. If pressure is applied, I will no longer stay in this position either."

On Wednesday, Associate Prof Muhammad Rafiqul Islam of the Department of Arabic, Lecturer Atiya Sanjida Sharma of the Department of Zoology and Associate Prof Muhammad Mahbub Kaiser of the Department of Sociology submitted their resignation letters to the vice-chancellor through the proctor.

On Thursday, two more teachers submitted their resignations. They are Associate Prof Sharmin Kabir of the Institute of Education and Research and Assistant Prof Jahangir Alam of the Department of Management Information Systems (MIS). Assistant Prof Rezaul Karim Sohag of the Department of Criminology also submitted his resignation on Thursday evening.

Speaking to several assistant proctors who resigned, it was learnt that an urgent meeting was called on Wednesday, where they were asked to step down.

According to the teachers, the request was made against the backdrop of the absence of a formal meeting following the cocktail explosion incident at the Faculty of Business Studies.

However, the assistant proctors claimed that no formal meeting had been called by the proctor's office regarding the incident. They questioned how they could be expected to hold a formal meeting when no such meeting had been convened by the office concerned.

The resigned teachers said that when the head of an office requests someone to step down, there is little scope for insisting on remaining in the position or negotiating to retain it. Consequently, some of them submitted their resignation letters, citing personal, family and academic issues.

One of the resigned teachers, requesting anonymity, told Daily Sun that the proctor had called him and requested that he resign.

"He asked me to resign. I then asked him what benefits there would be if I stepped down. In response, the proctor said it would be better if I resigned. Later, I agreed to his request," the teacher said.

Another resigned teacher said he wanted to focus more on his academic responsibilities. The resignation letters reportedly mentioned personal and academic commitments, as well as the need to devote more time to family.

When asked about allegations of administrative pressure, Proctor Associate Prof Md Israfil Ratan told Daily Sun, "Can anyone put pressure on any teacher of Dhaka University? If pressure is applied, I will no longer stay in this chair either."

Denying the allegations, he said, "There was no such pressure from my side, nor was anyone forced to resign. I have balanced personal relations with the teachers who resigned. There is no misunderstanding between us. They were simply requested."

Asked about the matter, DU Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Education) Prof Dr Abdus Salam, "I am not aware of any pressure being applied in this case. If there was any pressure, questions could certainly be raised about it."

Responding to allegations of force or pressure behind the resignations, DU Vice-Chancellor Prof ABM Obaidul Islam told Daily Sun that the teachers had cited personal and family reasons in their resignation letters, with none mentioning that they had been forced to resign.

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"They have mentioned personal reasons in the resignation letters submitted so far. There is no allegation of forced resignation in any of the letters I have received," he said.

Asked about the similar personal and family reasons mentioned in the resignation letters of all six teachers at a time, the vice-chancellor said, "I do not have the authority to review the matter. I have received the resignation letters, and they are being processed according to the rules."

He added that it was not yet possible to say whether the resignation letters would be accepted.

Currently, 21 assistant proctors are serving at Dhaka University. The simultaneous resignations of six of them have created unease within the university's proctorial team.