Students attempt to seize DU staff housing as Dhaka residents panic over earthquake

DU Correspondent

Within hours of a powerful 5.7-magnitude earthquake felt in the country at 11:38 am today, students of Haji Muhammad Muhsin Hall staged a protest march and surrounded the ‘Independence Tower’ built for university officials and employees, demanding that they be allocated seats in the building’s flats.

There have been reports that the floors of several halls, including Muhsin Hall, have collapsed due to the earthquake.

Sadiq Hossain Sikder, VP of the hall, claimed that the university’s engineering department has declared this hall ‘uninhabitable’ since 2014. Even after more than ten years, the administration has not made any renovations or arrangements for alternative accommodation.

He said, “We have been victims of earthquakes repeatedly. In previous incidents, many of our students have broken their arms and legs and suffered serious injuries. The administration has put our lives at risk by staying in safe buildings.”

However, the method of raising these demands has drawn sharp criticism. Family members of officials and employees have alleged that the protesters tried to enter the building by locking the gate and threatening to vacate the flats.

Many say that threatening to forcibly occupy someone else’s residence for any reason is unacceptable. This is another example of breaking the law in the name of student politics.

Not implementing reforms for ten years and putting students’ lives at risk is evidence of the administration’s extreme negligence and irresponsibility. But today’s incident also proves that the mentality of taking away the rights of others in protest of that negligence has become deeply rooted in a section of the student community.

This incident is not just a case of property grabbing; it is a manifestation of the deep moral decay of a section of the student community of Dhaka University. When the morning earthquake threatened people’s lives, the “whatever you want” mentality of force and coercion has been revealed.

Today, the excuse is an earthquake, tomorrow, some other crisis—but the goal is the same: students busy with the policy of force, regardless of rules and regulations. Those who claim to be the “future of the nation” have not hesitated to plunder the rights of others in the midst of the crisis today.

People from different walks of life are worried about whether the attitude of these students, who are studying with the public’s tax money, will build a future for the nation. When they come to lead the country in the future, will they establish the rule of law, or will this culture of forcible occupation become state policy? This fear is piercing the hearts of the nation today.