Assurance to meet demands, JnU teachers, students call off hunger strike

The chairman of the University Grants Commission (UGC), SMA Faiz, has announced that the government has decided to meet all three demands of the teachers and students of Jagannath University.

He made the announcement before the protesting teachers and students of the university at Kakrail in Dhaka around 7:30 pm on Friday.

The university’s vice-chancellor, Rezaul Karim, later briefed the students about the government’s assurance of meeting the demands.

According to him, the university’s budget will be increased, temporary residential halls will be constructed soon to address the housing crisis, and everything will be done to expedite the construction of its new campus.

Later, the UGC chairman broke the mass hunger strike of Jagannath University students by offering water to one of the fasting students. Present at the time were UGC member Professor Tanzimuddin Khan, Jagannath University treasurer Sabina Sharmin, and the university’s teachers' association general secretary Professor Rais Uddin.

However, some students continued their hunger strike until a specific plan to fulfill their three-point demands is publicly announced.

The teachers and students went on a mass hunger strike, for three demands. These are – until residential facilities are ensured for all students, 70 per cent of students receive housing allowance from the 2025–26 fiscal year; the proposed budget for the 2025–26 fiscal year be approved fully; and the second campus project be approved at the next ECNEC meeting and implemented as a priority.

After staging a sit-in for nearly 50 hours at Kakrail intersection with the three-point demand, a group of Jagannath University (JnU) students started the mass hunger strike. They commenced the strike at 4:00 pm today, Friday.

Dean of the faculty of Business Studies at Jagannath University, Professor Manzur Morshed, formally announced the beginning of the mass hunger strike at 3:50 pm. “Our mass hunger strike begins from this moment. This programme will continue until our demands are met,” he said.

A bit later, about 50 students went on the hunger strike around 4:00 pm. At the beginning of the programme, they observed a one-minute silence in protest against the recent police attacks on teachers and students of JnU.