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Politics stops Du to honour professors

HASAN JAHID TUSHER
Dhaka University (DU) could not award its eminent professors the highest post of honour, Emeritus Professor, in the last 23 years due to politics and alleged rivalry among the teachers.
The most distinguished professors of different departments of the university are eligible for the title, emeritus professor, on the basis of their academic efforts and performance. Internationally recognised research works and outstanding merit in their respective fields are also considered in this regard.
Earlier, one eminent professor won the honourable title in 1976, three in 1981 and two in 1982, and ever since, the honour remains on the shelf.
The Emeritus Professors are Dr Muhammad Shahidullah of Bangla department; Dr Sirajul Haque of Islamic studies and Dr Moazzam Hossain of Arabic; Prof Abdul Jabbar of pharmacy and Dr Mufizur Rahman of chemistry department.
Sources said teachers' direct involvement in politics, lack of initiatives and political interference
have kept the university from awarding the title for long.
A number of distinguished professors have been deprived of the title during this period, mainly for political rivalry among the teachers, they said.
The former and incumbent vicechancellors, AK Azad Chowdhury and SMA Faiz, have admitted the posts have not been awarded due to politics and political considerations.
The university administrations in 1999 and 2002 took initiatives to give the emeritus professor honour as at least four names came for the award since 1982.
The names of late Ahmed Sharif of Bangla department, Dr LM Nath of physics, Kamal Uddin of nutrition and food science and Serajul Islam Chowdhury of English came to the fore.
But the authorities could not specify why the title has not been given and how many professors have so far been honoured.
After a backlog of 16 years, the university administration in 1999 decided to award the honour to the best professors.
But the attempts failed as a group of senior teachers and influential persons in the administration intervened and demanded new guidelines in this regard.
After discussing the matter in detail for more than one year, the Academic Council (AC) had decided to adopt new guidelines.
A six-member high-powered committee took another year to submit a report on the new guidelines to then VC Azad.
The committee recommended not awarding the honour to more than seven teachers at a time. It also reset the tenure of the earlier life long title at five years, for which eminent professors also showed reluctance to get the honour.
A syndicate meeting during the tenure of VC Anwarullah Chowdhury discussed the awardgiving issues and also the names of Serajul Islam Chowdhury of English, Saduddin of sociology and Aktheruzzaman of botany as best nominees.
But the initiatives had been shelved after the VC was forced to step down following a students movement.
The sources said the issue did not come for consideration after the present administration had taken over.
DU Teachers' Association President Prof AAMS Siddique said the authorities should identify the best professors by awarding them with the emeritus professor title. "But many of the distinguished teachers have lost their aspiration for it due to politics," he added.
The honour must be given to the eligible professors for the greater interest of the university, DU Treasurer Syed Rashidul Hasan told The Daily Star. "The emeritus professors are the ornaments of the university. If the authorities take proper initiatives, they can make it soon," he said.
When asked, VC Faiz said, "I sincerely feel the honour should be given. It is on the agenda of the Academic Council. But teachers have expressed apprehension that political affiliation might be considered in awarding the position of honour."
He said he would take initiatives to award the title soon. "We've already received names of the best professors from different departments," he added.