THE assault on a University of Dhaka professor by a group led by a representative of the university’s central students’ union is unacceptable. Sociology professor Abul Kashem Mohammad Jamal Uddin, also the convener of the pro-Awami League blue panel of teachers, was manhandled at the social sciences faculty building on December 11 by the group led by the social welfare secretary of the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union, largely dominated by the Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. The group held the door of the car when the teacher was trying to get away. The teacher has said that he was harassed after he had visited the teacher’s lounge with four colleagues of his panel after the submission of a memorandum to the vice-chancellor’s office. The students’ union representative, meanwhile, has alleged in a Facebook posting that the teachers went there to hold a ‘secret meeting,’ claiming that students sought to detain and hand them over to the police, citing earlier boycotts of the teacher. The confrontation follows previous controversy around the teacher for his alleged July remarks against the students and support for Sheikh Hasina, who was deposed on August 5, 2024.
The incident points to a deep institutional failure to handle politically charged allegations through due procedures rather than confrontational action. When a university teacher is accused of making incendiary remarks or when students believe a teacher is engaged in improper activity, there are legal and administrative ways for inquiry, not ad hoc attempts at restraints by office bearers of a students’ union. About a year and a half after the July uprising, the campus remains in a transitional state that requires rules-based management of disputes, especially those involving political speech or perceived political affiliations. Allowing such matters to devolve into chases, scuffles or ‘detentions’ only normalises disorder at a time when public institutions need to demonstrate procedural maturity. The DUCSU representative leading the confrontation invoked the teacher’s Awami League affiliation despite the presence of individuals within the current DUCSU leadership who were, in various capacities, been aligned with the Awami League’s student organisation. Such past or present alignments cannot be selectively deployed as grounds for physical intervention nor can they be treated as a licence to bypass formal complaint processes. The university should make it clear that political affiliation, real or alleged, does not empower anyone to act outside institutional authority.
A rules-based approach is essential not only to address this incident but also to demonstrate that campus governance is not be shaped by factional calculations or informal coercion. The university should reaffirm due process, ensure that disputes are handled through legal ways and restore confidence that academic spaces will be governed by institutional norms.
