JU proctor leads mob to shut down Bauler Droho protest performance at Jahangirnagar University

JU Correspondent
The proctor himself stopped the Jahangirnagar University students’ song contest titled ‘Baul’s Disloyalty’ on his own initiative in protest against the arrest of Baul artist Abul Sarkar and attacks on Bauls across the country. Ordinary students have alleged that the proctor, leading a radical mob, stopped such cultural events on his own initiative.

On Saturday night, at around 1:45 am, Proctor AKM Rashidul Alam went to the stage set up in the university’s transportation complex and asked them to stop singing.

At this time, he had an argument with the organizers present.

Organizers said the proctor threatened to do something bad if the event was not stopped. They also accused the proctor of behaving like a mob leader.

Hasan Naeem, a teacher at the university’s Department of Comparative Literature and Culture, who was present at the event, said the proctor behaved like a ‘mob leader’.

He said, “When we asked to turn down the sound, we turned it down. There was not much sound from outside either. Just as the last song was playing, the proctor came on stage and abruptly stopped the program. Later, when I tried to speak, he even attacked me. I had to remind him that I was his colleague, not a student.”

Organizers said that Jahangirnagar University has never seen a proctor get on stage and stop a song before. One of the organizers, Naveen Kishore Goswami, said that the sound was turned down after receiving a complaint around 9 pm, and after 10 pm, the output sound was turned off and the program was being played only on the monitor.

Although the program started at 5:30 pm, after 9 pm, some activists of the underground organization Shibir posted about the problem with loud noise on the university-based Facebook group. At 10 pm, the proctoring team arrived and asked them to turn down the sound and end the program by 11 pm. The organizers complied with the order.

The organizers alleged that some students put pressure on the administration to stop the event. After 1:30 am, some students played songs in front of the vice-chancellor’s residence as a symbolic protest. One of them, Abdullah Al Mamun, said that they were forced to protest because the administration did not take proper action. Anjum Shahriar and Md. Sifatullah also participated in the symbolic protest.

On the other hand, Mohammad Ali Chishti, an executive member of Jaksa, wrote on Facebook warning that students are being angered by playing loud songs without following the rules.

He later said, “Protests were going on across the country against religious insults. At such a time, a controversial issue was brought to the fore and a loud event was held at night to create instability.”

Proctor AKM Rashidul Alam said, “Many students expressed annoyance at the loud noise as it was exam time. Many also reported migraine problems. So the organizers were asked to reduce the noise. Later, when they requested them to end the program at around 1:45 am, they stopped the program after some time. However, some organizers behaved disrespectfully.”