DU teachers demand Mainul's exit over AL chief's arrest

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Dhaka University (DU) teachers Thursday demanded removal of Adviser for Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs Mainul Hosein from the caretaker government for making biased comments in the wake of the arrest of Awami League (AL) chief Sheikh Hasina, reports bdnews24.com.
Dhaka University Teachers Association (DUTA) approved a five-point charter in the presence of 200 teachers at a meeting, chaired by DUTA president Sadrul Amin.
The demand for removal of the adviser is in the charter, which makes the first call on the government to get him out of the job since it took office in January.
Mainul said, "I don't want to comment on it. I don't give opinion based on the opinion of others."
He further said, "I expressed my views and they gave theirs."
The teachers demanded immediate freedom for the former prime minister from jail.
Security forces arrested Hasina at her home Sudha Sadan on July 16 in an extortion case, and a Dhaka court sent her to jail rejecting a bail prayer.
In the statement, the DUTA protested an alleged move by the caretaker government to take Hasina, and another former prime minister, Khaleda Zia, 'out of the political scene'.
The meeting also called on the government to return a democratic system to the country, clearing the way for general elections to take place.
DU Correspondent adds: The teachers of the university have now differed over tomorrow's (Sunday) observance of work abstention at the university protesting the arrest of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina.
Among the three groups of the DUTA, the white panel (BNP-Jamaat backed) along with a large number of impartial teachers have decided not to observe any sort of programme by which the university's students have to suffer academic losses.
"We cannot hold the university's students hostage by enforcing any detrimental action on the campus by which they have to suffer academic losses though we are against any kind of injustice and conspiracy", white panel teacher and DUTA president Sadrul Amin said.
Asif Nazrul of the DU said that wearing of black badges by the teachers was enough to express symbolic protest against the arrest of AL chief, adding that the decision to observe half-day work abstention has not been wise at all.
On the other hand, the blue group (AL backed) and the pink group (leftist) have asserted that they must observe their declared programmes and go for tougher actions if the AL chief is not released immediately and harassment to the top political leaders are not stopped.
"The teachers of DU will never allow the conspiracy of the government to close down the parties and harass the high-profile political leaders in the name of reforms", teacher of blue group and DUTA General Secretary Md Anwar Hossain said.
He said the teachers would wear black badges today (Saturday) and observe a half-day work abstention tomorrow (Sunday) to protest against the arrest of AL chief Sheikh Hasina and harassment to the political leaders.