Although 11 years have passed since the Jahangirnagar University’s Faculty of Law was established in 2011, it has no academic building, classrooms, seminar library, moot courtroom and a minimum learning environment yet. Students are continuing their academic activities at a single room on the fourth floor of the Faculty of Social Sciences of the university.
200m away, another room at the Zahir Raihan Auditorium has been divided into two to take classes. Since it is an auditorium, a place for recreation, it often faces difficulties to take classes smoothly. Due to lack of a seminar library, it is not possible for students to enlighten themselves on important reference books of law.
Under the development project of the university, construction work of infrastructure worth Tk 14 billion is underway. However, there is no allocation for the Faculty of Law.
After regular classes, students, teachers and officers of the faculty held a human chain on the central Shaheed Minar premises of the university on Tuesday.
Assistant Prof Suprobhat Paul said, "My students pay less than others? Then why are they lagging behind in terms of opportunities? Why they are not getting an equal opportunity with equal pay?"
"They (University Administration) said, 'We have arranged two classrooms in the auditorium.' There is a single classroom, with a partition in the middle. One class can be heard in another class. And the auditorium is the place to take classes? Everyone at this university has an equal right to the money allocated."
Acting Dean of the Faculty of Law and Head of the Department Tapos Kumar Das said, “Ever since I joined in 2014, I have heard that we will be given a place in the social sciences building with a new wing; If the New Arts Building is vacant, it will be given there; Will be given a place after transfer of the Department of Environmental Sciences. The latest is that if the old registrar is vacant, we will be given a place there. But none of that was done. Tomorrow we also heard about the future."
"I am totally disappointed to see fourteen development projects where there is nothing for the faculty. As a single department in JU, maximum number of students sit for the admission in this department. In the last 10 years, I have given revenue of Tk 50 million at least to this university. But not a single brick was bought for the department.”
sojib.mhs@gmail.com