RU teachers refuse to sit with registrar; admission committee meeting postponed

The authorities of Rajshahi University (RU) postponed the meeting of admission test committee today, after several teachers refused to hold it in presence of Registrar Prof MA Bari, as the government recently asked to relieve him for not assisting the UGC.

However, Ajijur Rahman, administrator of the public relations office of the university, said the meeting was postponed due to a "special reason".

This meeting will be held as soon as possible, he added.

With Vice Chancellor Prof M Abdus Sobhan in the chair, a meeting of the admission committee for the 2020-21 academic year was scheduled to be held at 10:00am today at the Senate building.

On December 10, Education Ministry issued an order asking the RU VC to take necessary steps to relieve Registrar MA Bari from his post for not properly assisting a University Grants Commission (UGC) committee in probing allegations of irregularities at the university. But the authority did not take any action yet.

It was learnt that, after Prof MA Bari attended the meeting, the chairmen of different departments and deans of faculties protested and demanded his removal.

Following the situation, the VC postponed the meeting 40 minutes after it started, reports our RU correspondent.

Sultanul Islam Tipu, chairman of Geology and Mining department, said, "In the beginning, we complained as the government asked the university to remove the registrar, as he was an accused in several irregularities."

"We won't attend any meeting with him," he added.

Prof Abdullah Al Mamun, chairman of English department, said, "We informed the authority that they should take action and remove the registrar soon -- following the ministry's order -- before holding any meeting. We will not attend any meeting in his presence."