Dhaka University: Leaders stay at halls even after studentship ends

There are a total of 104 rooms at Dhaka University’s Sir AF Rahman Hall. The rooms have four beds each, except for two particular rooms which have one bed each. In that sense, the hall has accommodation facilities for 410 students. But around 900 students are living there.

Speaking to the hall administration and students, it was learnt that there are around 200 residents in the hall who have completed their studies. Meanwhile, students at the end part of their first year and second year students live in the cramped ‘gono rooms’ (mass rooms). New students are being admitted to the first year now. Once they start arriving at the hall, the situation will be worse.

Leaders of the ruling Awami League’s ‘fraternal’ student front Chhatra League, decide on who can stay at the hall or not, which room they will stay at, and so on. The hall administration has no control over this. All the halls of Dhaka University are more or less in the same state as F Rahman Hall. It is a bit different for the female student halls. There is a crisis of accommodation there too as well as ‘gono rooms’, but the hall administration is in control.

The hall administration does not have the exact record of how many are staying on at the halls even after their studies have ended. Recently the authorities have begun collecting room-wise information at the halls. They are gathering information on who stays in each room, whose studies are complete and are no longer students, etc. Sources at a high level in the university administration involved in this task, informed Prothom Alo that their work in this regard is in the final stages. From the information collected so far, it is estimated that over 3000 persons who are no longer students are still residing illegally in the various halls. This is around 15 per cent of the total number of students at the halls.

There are presently 37,018 students at Dhaka University. The university has 19 halls. Of these, 13 are for male students, 5 for female  and 1 for international students. There are four hostels under various halls. Generally speaking, the authorities consider one bed each for two persons. According to the University Grants Commission latest report, Dhaka University has accommodation facilities for 16,546 students.

The university authorities do not have any accurate records of how many students are actually residing in the halls at present. However, this figure will not be less than 20,000. Over a hundred rooms are used as ‘gono rooms’, each housing 15 to 20 students. Most of these are four-bed rooms. A larger number of students stay in the bigger rooms. In Bijoy Ekattar Hall, over a hundred students say in one of the bigger rooms.

Speaking to students of the various halls, it was learnt that 18 rooms of Masterda Surja Sen Hall and 11 rooms of Haji Muhammad Mohsin Hall are used as ‘gono rooms’. Eight rooms each in Muktijoddha Ziaur Rahman Hall and Kabi Jasimuddin Hall, 6 rooms each in Sir AF Rahman Hall, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall, Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Hall, Fazlul Huq Muslim Hall, and Shaheed Sergeant Zahurul Huq Hall, 5 rooms in Jagannath Hall, 2 rooms in Amar Ekushey Hall, and one large room in Bijoy Ekattor Hall are used as mass accommodation ‘gono rooms’.

The halls for female students – Begum Rokeya Hall, Shamsunnahar Hall, Bangamata Sheikh Fazilatunnesa Mujib Hall, Bangladesh-Kuwait Maitri Hall and Kabi Sufia Kamal Hall – also have ‘gono rooms’.

Concerned persons say, there was accommodation crisis at the university in the past too, but over the past decade the session jam has been reduced to almost nil. Last academic year, the number of seats for admission was slashed by 1,163. Over the past 15 years there have been two new halls and new buildings constructed in two halls and so accommodation facilities have expanded. Overall, the accommodation crisis should have abated to an extent, but that has not happened. The main reason is that the halls are controlled by the student organisation and a section stays on at the halls even long after completing studies.

Speaking to students and several teachers attached to the hall administration, it was learnt that the leaders of the student front of whichever party is in power, take control of the halls and use the accommodation crisis to their advantage. First year student are accommodated in the halls on condition of joining rallies and processions. In the first year, the students on most evenings or night have to appear at the ‘guest room’. There are allegations of torture in these rooms. During one such session at the Chhatra League ‘guest room’ of Bijoy Ekattor Hall on Tuesday, a student fell unconscious in the excessive heat.

In the meantime, Chhatra League leaders and activists constitute a large section of those who stay on at the halls even though they are no longer students. Other than them, there are those who manage to appease the Chhatra League leaders and stay on. In fear of being humiliated and harassed, the teachers do not have the courage to assign halls seats according to merit or to ask non-students to leave the hall.

According to sources, once the room-based survey of the halls is complete, the university administration will talk to a high level in the government and the ruling party and take a decision on the matter.

Vice chancellor of Dhaka University, Professor ASM Maksud Kamal, said that the allegation is true that a section stays on at the halls with political shelter even after completing their studies. Many also remain there till they get jobs, preparing for their jobs from the halls. When the hall administration cannot evict those who are staying on with political shelter, they do not have the moral space to say anything to the others who have also completed their studies. But the administration is taking measures now.

The vice chancellor said, room-based information on the students is being collected. All the information will be available on an app. A click on the dash board will show who stays in which room, what year student they are and so on. The residential teachers will regularly monitor this.

Depending on the Dhaka University halls, there are one-bed, two-bed, and four-bed rooms. But for the general students, two students share one bed. Sharing a bed of 3ft to 4 ft in width is called doubling. There are two exceptions.  One is the ‘gono room’ where 15 to 20 students are packed together. They are all first and second year students, with a few from the third year. And it is mostly the Chhatra League leaders who stay in the one-bed and two-bed rooms. In the halls that don’t have one-bed or two-bed rooms, the leaders each stay in single beds. Many of them don’t leave even after they are no longer students. Many stay on preparing for jobs after completing their studies.

It is the same in most of the halls. But things are a bit different in Jagannath Hall which houses non-Muslim students. It has less of an accommodation crisis. But there too many stay on after finishing studies, and some outsiders reside there too, it is alleged. Then again, no new students are being attached to Salimullah Muslim Hall. The university authorities are considering keeping this hall for MPhil and PhD research students only. Till recently this hall had acute accommodation crisis too. Students would have to live in the verandahs. A number of Chhatra League leaders are still living illegally in this hall.

Bijoy Ekattor Hall was inaugurated in 2013. Consisting of two 11-storey buildings, it can accommodate 1000 students. But in reality, almost double the number stays here. In various storeys of the Meghna block there are large recreational rooms for television and games. One such room on the fourth storey is used as a ‘gono room’. This is known to be the largest ‘gono room’ of Dhaka University.

A recent visit to this ‘gono room’ at Bijoy Ekattor Hall saw rows of bedding lined up on the floor. Trunks stood by the bedding where the students kept their clothes and books. A narrow space was kept for movement. Speaking to the students, it was learnt that around 150 of them stay here. Most of them are at the end part of the first year. There are four ‘blocks’ in this room, each one under a Chhatra League leader. The students join the hall through the followers of these four leaders and are accordingly assigned to a block in the room.

A visit to F Rahman Hall saw that the ‘gono room’ there was on the ground floor. As there was not enough space in the room, the students keep their trunks in the verandah. Entering a room, it was found that the entire floor was covered in bedding. There are no study tables. Either you study in bed or the hall reading room. The residents of this room are second and third year students.

A few students here, on condition of anonymity, said they have been living in these cramped conditions for over a year. They can hardly sleep because of the bed bugs. Then there are the mosquitoes. When in the first year, they didn’t have permission to enter the reading room of the hall. Now they can.

These students say, things will get worse when the new students are admitted. Many are staying on at the halls still even though they have finished their students. If they left, the crisis would abate somewhat. But the hall authorities are making no move to remove them.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Sir AF Rahman Hall’s provost Md Rafiqul Islam, said at the directives of the vice chancellor, information is being gathered on who are staying in the halls despite the end of their studentship. Steps will be taken after that. He said, for long the control of the halls hasn’t been in the administrations hands, but in the hands of the student organisation.

Referring to his earlier experience as a residential teacher at a hall, Prof Md Rafiqul Islam said, “When we try to evict those staying illegally in the halls, an invisible wall rises up. There is political pressure in some cases.”

Talking to students, it was learnt that the ‘gono room’ at Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Hall was comparatively better. But a visit to this hall before Eid-ul Fitr found at least 14 students accommodated on the floor in a ‘gono room’ (Room 1102 in extension building 1). The students in this room have to regularly attend the organisation’s programmes.

Sources say that Chhatra League’s central vice president Rakibul Hasan was admitted to Dhaka University in the 2010-11 academic year. His fellow students completed their Honours and Masters in 2014 and 2015. According to the university rules, there is scope for students of regular courses to stay for eight years, six for Honours and 2 for Masters. Even that time limit has expired for him five years ago, yet he stayed on at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall. Yesterday, Friday, he told Prothom Alo that he had left the hall in September last year.

Of the same academic year, Chhatra League vice president Mehdi Hasan and joint general secretary Abdullah Hil Bari are staying at Bangabandhu Hall, three other vice presidents are also still staying at halls – Utpal Biswas at Jagannath Hall, Hasanur Rahman at Ziaur Rahman Hall and Zainul Abedin at Jasimuddin Hall.

Though having no studentship now, Chhatra League’s central vice presidents Tahsan Ahmad and Mehdi Hasan are staying at Salimullah Muslim Hall; vice presidents Khadimul Bashar, Rony Muhammad and Sheikh Sujon at AF Rahman Hall; and vice presidents Nahid Hasan and Tuhin Reza at Surja Sen Hall. Chhatra League vice presidents Khairul Hasan Akhand and joint general secretary Md Nazim Uddin stay at Sergeant Zahurul Huq Hall. Organising secretary Arif Mahmud stays at Bijoy Ekattor Hall, former vice president Sheikh Sagar Ahmed stays at Muktijoddha Ziaur Rahman Hall, vice presidents Shahed Khan, Zubair Hasan and SM Shaheduzzaman stay at Jasimuddin Hall.

Other than these Chhatra Leader leaders, many former students are staying at the halls illegally. They mostly manage to stay by appeasing the Chhatra League leaders.

However, general secretary of Dhaka University Chhatra League, Tanvir Hasan (Shaikat) told Prothom Alo that at the most 15 to 20 per cent only of those who stay on at the halls after their studentship, are of Chhatra League. The rest are general students. If the university draws up regulations so that no one can stay at the halls after their studentship is over, Chhatra League will cooperate. This requires specific rules which everyone will follow.

Tanvir Hasan claims that Chhatra League does not control the halls, but only takes first year students into the hall on humanitarian grounds.

The students, however, claim that the ruling party’s student front controls the halls and dominates the campus. This has been going on for long.

Speaking to Prothom Alo, Dhaka University Chhatra Union general secretary Main Ahmed said that many non-students are comfortably living in the halls. Yet students of the first and second years, sometimes even of the third and fourth years, are living in congested ‘gono rooms’ or ‘mini gono rooms’. He feels that this accommodation crisis is advantageous for Chhatra League and the administration. If there was no crisis, the students would not be obliged towards anyone for their seats. They would then be able to speak out, which would be troublesome for both Chhatra League and the administration.