Nahid wants JnU dorms cleared of illegal occupants

The Education Minister wants Jagannath University (JnU) dormitories cleared of ‘illegal occupants’. Much of the buildings is currently held by MPs, police and influential Awami League leaders. In the backdrop of the movement of the university’s students for the recovery of the dormitories, Nurul Islam Nahid Monday told reporters that JnU had many plots and establishments but lost their possession. “We want the university’s land returned. I am urging (those who currently have possession) to return the occupied dormitories,” he said. The minister also said legal steps would be taken to recover those dormitories. Students of the university have been agitating since early February for the ‘recovery’ of Tibet Hall, which, they alleged, has been occupied by Dhaka-7 independent MP Haji Selim since 2000. Police came down hard on the students Sunday when they held a demonstration in front of that dormitory in Old Dhaka’s Islampur area. A teacher and over a hundred students were injured when police fired rubber bullets and lobbed teargas shells, according to a news agency.