DU Student Forced Out of Azimpur Colony Flat on One Day's Notice, Semester Final Starts Tomorrow

Ania Akter, a third-year student of Dhaka University's Theatre and Performance Studies department, had lived as a sublet tenant in the capital's Azimpur Government Colony for nearly two years after failing to get a seat in a university residential hall. Following an order to remove sublet tenants from government housing, she has suddenly had to leave the flat — yet her semester final examination starts tomorrow.

Last Thursday, while Ania was at a drama rehearsal, she was told an order had come for tenants to vacate. The next night, Friday, the allottee landlord told her she must leave by October 31.

Ania said: 'My semester final starts from November 2 (Monday). When will I pack, how will I go, where will I go? After I said these things, the landlord's wife said there is nothing to do — if they are caught, their flat allotment could be cancelled and her husband could face problems with his job.'

Under a Directorate of Government Housing instruction, if a sublet tenant is found in a government flat after October 31, punitive and legal action including cancellation of the concerned government employee's allotment is to be taken. On Saturday, students living as sublets in Azimpur Government Colony were seen leaving their flats.

Ania said she had paid the month's rent in advance at the start of the month, yet she was effectively given one day to leave. As a performance studies student, she also had to move various equipment used in drama work.

She said: 'I have never managed a truck. I don't know how to do any of this. I tried three or four apps all night and still could not get a truck.' Even after packing until 2 p.m. on Saturday, uncertainty remained over where to take her belongings.

In the end she kept her belongings at a friend's flat and moved herself to a relative's home in Mohammadpur. Moving cost a large amount of money, and since she does not earn herself, the financial pressure also fell on her family, she said.

Ania's biggest worry now is the examination. Starting tomorrow, she has a busy schedule running continuously until December 15. Managing a house search, a move and her studies together in this period will be difficult, she said.

The dining room she has moved into at her relative's home has no light or fan arrangement, and she had to spend the whole night cleaning it. Five members of that family, including a child, live in the flat, so there is no opportunity to create her own study environment.

Ania said: 'The exam is tomorrow — will I look for a house now or study for the exam?' She had asked whether she could stay at her friend's flat until December 15, but her friend has her own limitations, so there is no certainty of staying there for long either, she said.

A major advantage of living in Azimpur Colony was safety and proximity to the university. Ania's drama rehearsals often run until midnight. She said: 'It must also be understood how safe it is for a woman to travel from Dhaka University to Mohammadpur at midnight.'

By her calculation, daily rickshaw travel from Mohammadpur alone costs about 400 taka, in addition to food costs. Although she considered a girls' hostel as an alternative, spending 10,000 to 15,000 taka a month just to stay in a room with three to four beds is difficult for her, she said.

Meanwhile, students have begun searching for seats again in Azimpur's girls' hostels. Mukta, who runs a hostel known as 'Mugdho Chhatri Hostel', said verbal notices began after the prime minister visited the colony on October 17, and after a government notification was issued last Thursday, students started looking for hostel seats.

Mukta said that as students moved to the colony, the hostel business had to be shrunk — operations in 25 buildings have come down to 10 flats, losses amount to about 5 million taka, and staff have fallen from 45 to three. Now that students are returning, her hostel has seats in two-, three- and four-bed rooms at 2,000 to 3,000 taka per seat, she said.