‘Unauthorised’ bus committees have free run in JnU

Notwithstanding restrictions imposed by the authorities of Jagannath University (JnU), the dreaded culture of bus committees continues unabated on campus.

University insiders and students complained that new bus committees are being declared one after the other, leading to increased harassment by their members.

According to students, the committee for each bus “reserves” a number of seats for its members and no one is allowed to sit on them. Committee members even resort to violence to evict those sitting on these allotted seats. There are also several complaints of eve-teasing, fighting and smoking inside the buses.

Asif Ahamed, a student of the Geography department, said, “Girls and senior students are forced to stand because they are not allowed to sit on the seats reserved for committee members. They beat up anyone sitting on the allotted seats. The number of buses is few compared to the large number of students, aggravating the problem for us.”

Moreover, locals around the JnU campus claimed that the committee members harass women on the streets, sing lewd songs and misbehave with others.

Faced with growing complaints against the nuisance of bus committees, the university administration had earlier imposed restrictions on them. Since then, JnU authorities have claimed to the media several times that the menace has been dealt with successfully.

However, harassment of general students and violence by bus committee members has again increased recently. University insiders revealed that these committees are mostly run by BCL’s JnU unit. BCL leaders issue press releases to declare bus committees for several routes, they added.

A university bus named ‘Vijay’, which plies from JnU to Azimpur Road, has a 15-member regulatory committee. Mehedi Hasan Noyon was named the president and Foysal Jamil Shuvo the secretary.

The committee was declared through a press release at the end of last year. The release was endorsed by some BCL leaders of the JnU unit named Shuvo, Helal, Suvroto and Monir.

‘Durjoy’, which runs from JnU to Kallyanpur, has an 18-member committee with Mohosin Ahammod Forhad as the president and Dipto Kumar Debnath the secretary. The declaration of the Durjoy bus committee was signed by BCL activists Samiul Tasahab Shisir and Robin Choudhori.

Similar committees have been formed for other university buses like ‘Ulka 2’, ‘Uttoron’, ‘Projonmo’ and ‘Chandramukhi’.

Several attempts by The Independent to contact the president of the JnU unit of the BCL, Md. Tarikul Islam, failed, as he did not pick up his phone.

On his part, JnU vice-chancellor Mijanur Rahman said, “Bus committees were declared illegal long ago.

However, if any committee has been endorsed recently, we will take appropriate action.”

Unauthorised bus committees have free run in JnU

Notwithstanding restrictions imposed by the authorities of Jagannath University (JnU), the dreaded culture of bus committees continues unabated on campus. University insiders and students complained that new bus committees are being declared one after the other, leading to increased harassment by their members. According to students, the committee for each bus reserves a number of seats for its members and no one is allowed to sit on them. Committee members even resort to violence to evict those sitting on these allotted seats. There are also several complaints of eve-teasing, fighting and smoking inside the buses. Asif Ahamed, a student of the Geography department, said, Girls and senior students are forced to stand because they are not allowed to sit on the seats reserved for committee members. They beat up anyone sitting on the allotted seats. The number of buses is few compared to the large number of students, aggravating the problem for us. Moreover, locals around the JnU campus claimed that the committee members harass women on the streets, sing lewd songs and misbehave with others. Faced with growing complaints against the nuisance of bus committees, the university administration had earlier imposed restrictions on them. Since then, JnU authorities have claimed to the media several times that the menace has been dealt with successfully. However, harassment of general students and violence by bus committee members has again increased recently. University insiders revealed that these committees are mostly run by BCLs JnU unit. BCL leaders issue press releases to declare bus committees for several routes, they added. A university bus named Vijay, which plies from JnU to Azimpur Road, has a 15-member regulatory committee. Mehedi Hasan Noyon was named the president and Foysal Jamil Shuvo the secretary. The committee was declared through a press release at the end of last year. The release was endorsed by some BCL leaders of the JnU unit named Shuvo, Helal, Suvroto and Monir. Durjoy, which runs from JnU to Kallyanpur, has an 18-member committee with Mohosin Ahammod Forhad as the president and Dipto Kumar Debnath the secretary. The declaration of the Durjoy bus committee was signed by BCL activists Samiul Tasahab Shisir and Robin Choudhori. Similar committees have been formed for other university buses like Ulka 2, Uttoron, Projonmo and Chandramukhi. Several attempts by The Independent to contact the president of the JnU unit of the BCL, Md. Tarikul Islam, failed, as he did not pick up his phone. On his part, JnU vice-chancellor Mijanur Rahman said, Bus committees were declared illegal long ago. However, if any committee has been endorsed recently, we will take appropriate action.