FROM PAGE 12

previous notice.

Speaking to The Daily Star, AKM Rakib, a protesting student from the botany department, said, “We received assurances that the project work would be handed over to the army. In addition, the matter of temporary accommodation for students will also be discussed at Wednesday’s meeting. Two of our three demands are being accepted. So we are withdrawing from the hunger strike.

“Although we have called off the hunger strike, the campus shutdown will remain in place. The next course of action will be determined based on the decisions at Wednesday’s meeting.”

Around 3:00pm yesterday, a notice was issued by the ministry that the steering committee for the second JnU campus project would meet on Wednesday to discuss the transfer of the project to the army, and examine the project’s progress.

At a press briefing on the campus in the morning, students had threatened to besiege the Secretariat if their demands were not met by the afternoon.

Students were seen locking the main gate of the university around 9:00am.

JnU Vice-Chancellor Professor Rezaul Karim said, “The student protest has made our job easier and accelerated its pace. At the meeting [on Wednesday], the project’s current state will be analysed, and a final decision will be made. The other demands will also be discussed at the meeting.”

On Sunday at 8:30am, another section of students went on a hunger strike and 12 of them were hospitalised after falling sick. Yesterday, four more protesters fell sick during a hunger strike at the campus.

Despite assurances from the VC, the students earlier refused to end their protest.

Students from various departments joined the shutdown and locked the main gate in solidarity.

The closure of the main gate has restricted vehicle access to the campus, although a smaller pocket gate remains open for pedestrian movement.