Alleged harassment of RU Urdu department chair: teachers' council demands impartial probe among three points
The Rajshahi University branch of the Public University Teachers' Council has condemned and protested the alleged harassment and humiliation of Professor Dr Muhammad Shahidul Islam, chairman of the Department of Urdu at Rajshahi University (RU).
The condemnation was issued on Thursday (October 29) in a statement signed by the organisation's president Professor Dr J A M Sakilur Rahman and secretary Professor Dr Md Kamal Uddin.
According to the statement, at around 1:30pm last Tuesday on Paris Road of the university, lobbying was made to the department chairman on behalf of a discollegiate student of the 2025-26 academic session to allow the student to fill out the exam form and sit for the examination.
The statement said the situation deteriorated after it was conveyed that, because of the university's existing rules and academic decisions, it was not possible to allow the student to sit for the examination.
The statement alleges that at that time Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leader Bulbul Rahman and his associates pressured the department chairman to allow the student to sit for the exam. At one stage, the chairman was allegedly abused in foul language, an attempt was made to snatch his mobile phone, and he was physically and mentally harassed in public.
The teachers' council described such behaviour not merely as a personal insult, but as a serious blow to the university's academic environment, mutual respect between teachers and students, and institutional discipline.
The statement said that intimidating a teacher on a university campus, or harassing a teacher physically and mentally, is not acceptable in any way.
It further said that a situation has been created in which an apology to the victim teacher is being presented as the solution instead of a proper investigation of the complaint and lawful measures — something not acceptable to the teaching community. An apology cannot be an alternative to proper investigation, institutional accountability and legal action.
The organisation said a university is an institution of knowledge, free thought, justice and democratic values. Ensuring teachers' safety and dignity is one of the main responsibilities of the university administration, and no laxity or bias in discharging that responsibility is acceptable.
The statement put forward three demands: ensuring an impartial, transparent and swift investigation into the allegation of harassing Professor Dr Muhammad Shahidul Islam; taking exemplary punitive action under university rules against Bulbul Rahman and others involved if the allegation is proved; and ensuring the victim teacher's dignity, safety and justice alongside effective steps to prevent such incidents in future.
The teachers' council expressed hope that the Rajshahi University administration would take swift necessary action considering the gravity of the matter. Otherwise, it warned, concern over the safety, dignity and working environment of the university's teaching community would grow further.
