University of Rajshahi

University of Rajshahi

রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয়
Type	Public
Established	July 6, 1953 (July 6, 1953)
Affiliation	University Grants Commission of Bangladesh
Chancellor	President of Bangladesh
Vice-Chancellor	M. Abdus Sobhan[1]
Provost	17 provosts
Pro Vice-Chancellor	Professor Dr. Ananda Kumar Saha
Academic staff	1,778 (December 2015)
Administrative staff	2,258 (December 2015)
Students	26,495 (December 2015)[2]
Undergraduates	15,258 (December 2015)
Postgraduates	9,125 (December 2015)
Doctoral students	2,112 (December 2015)
Location	Rajshahi, Bangladesh 24°22′12″N 88°38′13″E / 24.370°N 88.637°E / 24.370; 88.637Coordinates: 24°22′12″N 88°38′13″E / 24.370°N 88.637°E / 24.370; 88.637
Campus	Urban, 753 acres (3 km2)
Language	Bengali, English
Sports	Cricket, football, basketball, karate
Website	ru.ac.bd

The University of Rajshahi, also known as Rajshahi University or RU (Bengali: রাজশাহী বিশ্ববিদ্যালয় Rājshāhi Bish-shobid-daloy) is a public university which is the second largest university in Bangladesh, in Rajshahi, a city in northwestern Bangladesh. It was established in 1953, the second university to be established in what was then East Pakistan. The university is ranked third on the Bangladesh University Ranking 2017.^[3]

The university's 58 departments are organised into ten faculties. Rajshahi University is in a 753 acres (3 km²) campus in Motihar, 3 kilometres (2 mi) from the Rajshahi city centre. With 25,000 students and close to 1000 academic staff, it is one of the largest universities in Bangladesh.^[4] In addition to hosting programs in engineering, arts, law, sciences, agriculture, social sciences, business studies and medical sciences, the university houses institutes of higher studies.

History

The description on the memorial says, "Rajshahi University: Those who were martyred during the Liberation war".

The first proposal to establish a university came in 1917, when Calcutta University created the Sadler Commission to assess the university system in Bengal. However, the recommendations of the report had no immediate consequences.

Following the Partition of India in 1947, what is now Bangladesh became East Pakistan. University of Dhaka, established in 1921, was the only university in East Pakistan at the time. Demand for a university in the northern part of East Pakistan gained momentum when two universities were established in West Pakistan without the establishment of any in the east. Students of Rajshahi College were at the forefront of the movement demanding a new university.^[5] Finally, Rajshahi was selected as the home for the second university in East Pakistan and the Rajshahi University Act of 1953 (East Bengal Act XV of 1953) was passed by the East Pakistan provincial Assembly on 31 March 1953.^[6] Israt Hossain Zuberi, the principal of Rajshahi College was appointed its first vice-chancellor.

Initially, the university was housed in temporary locations, such as the local Circuit House and Bara Kuthi, an 18th-century Dutch establishment. B B Hindu Academy, a local school, housed the library, teachers' lounge and the medical centre. The university started out with 20 professors, 161 students (of which 5 were female) and six departments—Bengali, English, History, Law, Philosophy and Economics. In 1964, the offices moved to the permanent campus.

The 1960s was a turbulent period in Bangladesh, when demands for East Pakistani autonomy became stronger. The students and staff of the university started playing an increasing role in politics. On 18 February 1969, Shamsuzzoha, a professor, was killed by the police when he tried to prevent them from shooting student demonstrators.^[7] This date is now commemorated as Zoha Day.^[8] During the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971, the campus was used as a base by the Pakistan Army. A number of professors, students and officers of the university were killed by the Pakistan army during this period.

After independence, a new act regarding the administration of the university came into being—the Rajshahi University Act of 1973. The post-independence years saw the university grow steadily in student enrolment and size of the academic staff. However, the 1980s were turbulent for the university, as the students agitated with other institutions of the country against the military rule of Hossain Muhammad Ershad. Since the early 1990s, the university have seen relative calm and lowering of session backlogs, though active student politics remains a contentious issue.

Emblem

The circle of the emblem represents the world. An open book is shown in red and gold: red representing one of the colours of the national flag and gold the value of education. The body of the book is blue, the colour of the sky, and at the centre is a shapla flower (Nymphaeaceae), the national flower of Bangladesh.

Campus

Main campus

Shabash Bangladesh commemorates the Bangladesh Liberation War

The Shaheed Minar is perhaps the most well-known landmark in the university

Front view of the Administration Building of Rajshahi University.

The university's main campus is in Motihar, on the eastern side of the city of Rajshahi and a mile from the river Padma.^[6] The campus area is nearly 753 acres (3.05 km²). Access to the walled-off campus is controlled through three security gates. It houses eleven large academic buildings—five for the arts, business studies and social sciences, four for the sciences and two for agricultural studies.

The central part of the university, accessible by the main gate, is dominated by the administrative building, where the offices of the vice-chancellor and other officials are located. This is flanked by the senate building and the residence of the vice-chancellor on one side (featuring the famous Shabash Bangladesh sculpture) and the university mosque and Shaheed Minar complex on the other.^[9] Behind the administrative building is the central library, around which the four science buildings and three main arts buildings are. The science buildings are named numerically as the "First Science Building" and so on. The arts buildings are named after Muhammad Shahidullah, Momtazuddin Ahmed and Rabindranath Tagore. More towards the east lie the stadium, the new teacher-student centre and the main auditorium.

The Kazla gate provides access to the southwestern part of the campus. The Juberi international guest house, Rajshahi University School and the main residential facilities for the academic staff and university officers are here.^[9] Near the residential areas are all five dorms (known as residential halls) for female students. The eastern part of the campus houses the Institute of Bangladesh Studies,^[10] the medical and sports facilities, and more residential facilities for the staff—but is dominated by the eleven large dormitories for male students. From the Binodpur gate, the residential halls named after Nawab Abdul Latif, Shamsuzzoha and Madarbux are to the north, while Sher-e-Bangla hall and the oldest dorm Motihar Hall^[11] lie to the west.^[12] The second largest mass graves in Bangladesh from the 1971 war era is behind Shamsuzzoha Hall.^[13]

The campus contains many mango orchards and some litchi trees. The Paris Road is one of the most soothing places inside the campus. It starts from just behind the Juberi international guest house and ends in front of the Shaheed Minar. It has been said that it has been named as Paris Road because of the trees beside this beautiful road originating from Paris.

The Rajshahi area is regarded as one of the best mango producing areas in the country,^[14] and these orchards are leased out to professional farmers during the summer, when the fruits grow. The campus also reflects the region's silk industry, fields of mulberry trees are in the campus for agricultural and research needs. The northern part of the campus houses a botanical garden, which has a good collection of rare plants.

Other facilities

Varendra Museum is the oldest in the nation and an important resource for the university

A few miles from the main campus is the Varendra Research Museum,^[15] one of the richest repertory of Bengal sculptures in the world.^[16] Established in 1910 by Ramaprasad Chanda, the museum became a part of the university in 1960s when a financial crisis threatened its existence. Under the university, the museum has thrived, adding an folklore gallery to its impressive collection from ancient and medieval Bengal.^[15]

The Bara Kuthi, where the university was established is still under university control, and is on the Padma not too far from Varendra Museum. The university has an agricultural facility few miles from the main campus. Rajshahi University maintains other facilities across the country including a guesthouse in the capital city, Dhaka.

Architecture

University of Rajshahi is home to many architectural and artistic landmarks, with an area of about almost 304 hectors. The Shaheed Minar is an important example, complete with a mural designed by Murtaza Bashir. The Senate House is a modern mini-parliament house, has 206 rooms and is fully air-condHitioned. It is usually used for meetings of the senate of the university, but it accommodates national and international conferences, seminars and symposiam. In front of the Senate House is Shabash Bangladesh, one of the largest war memorial sculptures in the nation, designed and constructed by Nitun Kundu.^[17] The name comes from a poem by Sukanta Bhattacharya of the same name, the last four lines of which is engraved under the structure.

Golden Jubilee Tower, a 2003 addition to the university's array of sculptures, commemorates the its 50th anniversary. It is right beside the main gate. It has also an open theatre and two beautiful murals. Other well-known buildings include the library and the university mosque. The Department of Fine Arts hosts a sizeable collection of contemporary art, while Varendra Museum has a large collection of ancient and medieval art.^[18]

Organization and administration

The university is run according to the Rajshahi University Act of 1973.^[19] The act, passed in 1973, allows the university considerably more autonomy than most other peer institutions. The president of Bangladesh is the de facto chancellor, but his role is mainly ceremonial. The highest official after the chancellor is the vice-chancellor, selected by the senate of the university every four years. The vice-chancellor, as of June 2017, is M. Abdus Sobhan.

Other important officers include the pro vice-chancellor, the registrar, the controller of examinations and the proctor.^[19] The proctor is in direct charge of student activities and is the official with most direct contact with the students. The most important statutory bodies of the university are the senate, the academic council and the syndicate.^[19]

As a public institution, most of Rajshahi University's funding comes from the government. The University Grants Commission (UGC) is the body responsible for allocating funds to all public universities.

Students are admitted after they pass the Higher Secondary Exam (HSC exam). In earlier days students partook in entrance examinations, a separate one for each department. But now students need to partake under unit of different faculty.^[20] This has been a contentious issue,^[21] as there used to be only one exam for each faculty, after which students would be allocated to departments according to their result and choice of program.

The public University of Rajshahi's tuition fees are relatively low; nevertheless, a hike in admission fees, during the 2006–07 session, drew criticism from student bodies.^[22] As of 2007, the university awarded a total of 340 scholarships, whose annual value is around 1.1 million taka. In addition, there are merit awards given by residential halls, departments and the university itself. Students are eligible for the Prime Minister's Gold Medal award.^[23]

All colleges of the northern and southern regions of the country used to be affiliated with University of Rajshahi. However, the administration of colleges across the country was taken over by the National University when it was established in 1992.^[24]

Faculties and departments

Faculties Faculty of Science Faculty of Engineering Faculty of Arts Faculty of Social Science Faculty of Business Studies Faculty of Life & Earth Science Faculty of Law Faculty of Agriculture Faculty of Medicine Faculty of Fine Arts The Faculty of Engineering: Krishnachura blossoms in front of the First Science building that houses Physics and Applied Physics & Electronic Engineering

The university's 58 departments are organised into 10 faculties: Arts, Law, Science, Medicine, Business Studies, Social Sciences, Life and Earth Sciences, Fine Arts and Agriculture.^[27] The Arts and the Law faculties are the oldest, both established in 1953, closely followed by the Faculty of Science (1956) and the Faculty of Engineering (est. 2009). The university's departments represent the traditional studies in arts, commerce, sciences and engineering through programs such as History, Languages and Linguistics, Economics, Business Studies, Mathematics, Applied Mathematics (est.2002), Physics, Computer Science & Engineering, Chemistry, Statistics, Geology & Mining, Geography, Psychology, Zoology, Botany, etc. The university is increasingly emphasising more specialised programs such as Pharmacy, Biochemistry, Information and Communication Engineering (ICE) (est. 2000), Genetics and breeding (est. 1996).^[5]

Affiliating colleges under Rajshahi University

1. BCMC college of ENGINEERING and TECHNOLOGY, Jessore
2. Rangpur Engineering College
3. International Institute of Applied Science & Technology, Rangpur
4. Tomaltola Agricultural College, Nator
5. South East Engineering College, Khulna
6. Epsilon Engineering College, Rajshahi
7. Rajshahi College of Science & Technology, Rajshahi
8. Islami Bank Medical College, Rajshahi
9. Barind Medical College, Rajshahi
10. TMSS Medical College, Bogra
11. Prime Medical College, Rangpur
12. Udoyon Dental College, Rajshahi
13. Institute of Health Technology, Rajshahi
14. Northern Medical College, Rangpur
15. Rangpur Dental College
16. Bangladesh Police Academy, Sardah, Rajshahi
17. Imperial College of Engineering, Khulna

Student life

Notable alumni

• Physicist Arun Kumar Basak^[34]
• Cricketer Al-Amin Hossain^[35]
• Writer Selina Hossain^[36]
• Writer Hasan Azizul Huq^[37]
• Physicist M. Sayeedur Rahman Khan^[38]
• Poet Mahadev Saha^[39]
• Director Giasuddin Selim^[40]

Incidents and controversies

During the 1980s, the four-year honours course took as long as eight years due to the session backlogs, resulting mainly from conflicts between factions of political groups. Since early 1990s, student politics has been comparatively calmer, with student body elections not being held for more than a decade. The student groups have been demanding elections whereas others feel student politics should be banned.

In late 2004 and early 2005, two professors of Rajshahi University got assassinated within three months: Professor Yunus from the Economics department in December 2004^[41] and Professor Taher from the Geology and Mining department in February 2005.^[42] Both murders were suspected to be driven by political motivations. In 2006, the commander of Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh admitted to the RAB interrogators that his operatives carried out the attack on Yunus, as well as the 2004 attack on writer Humayun Azad, the murder of another writer, bomb blasts, and attacks on cinemas.^[43]

Around the same time, a controversy over the hiring of over 500 new employees broke; detractors suggested that they were hired illegally, either in return for money or for political reasons.^[44]

Since the new millennium, much attention has been focused on politics among university teaching staff. Observers have claimed that the teaching staff have been thoroughly polarised according to party lines in national politics.

In 2005, Muhammad Asadullah Al-Ghalib of the university was arrested for links with the Ahle Hadith Andolon Bangladesh, but was acquitted in 2008.

In August 2007, six detained professors of the university were temporarily suspended for their involvement in organising protests for restoring that violated Emergency Power Rules,^[45] though they were discharged later from allegations and returned to the university with proper honour.

In November 2017, a woman student was abducted from the university campus, sparking protests by students demanding her rescue and improved security on the campus.^[46]

In July 2018, protests and counter-violence erupted at various universities, particularly RU, over the "quota reform movement," which sought to change the quota system that allocated 56% of Bangladesh government jobs to specific "entitled" classes. RU's vice-chancellor, Professor M. Abdus Sobhan, dismissed the quota-reform movement as an "anti-government movement with a motive to carry out sabotage."^[47]

RU student and quota-reform movement leader Toriqul Islam, and 15 others, were attacked during their protest march, July 2, 2018, by opposing students. A prominent Bangladesh newspaper, the Daily Star, which filmed the incident, identified 10 of the attackers as leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), a pro-Awami League (Bangladesh's ruling party) student organisation. Video footage and photos published in Bangladeshi media showed BCL men -- with sticks, bamboo poles, a dagger and a hammer -- beating Toriqul, who suffered a broken leg and severe head injury. Several police officers standing nearby (unaware the incident was being filmed) did not intervene until the attack was finished, then took the victim to hospital -- but without arresting any of the attackers, publicly denying it was anything more than a "scuffle." University authorities declined to investigate, for lack of a filed complaint. Images of the attack, distributed on social media, sparked widespread criticism over police and university administration inaction.^{[47][48][49][50]}

Despite student Toriqul's unresolved major injuries, the university's Rajshahi Medical College Hospital discharged him July 5, 2018, forcing his doctor to arrange for immediate surgery elsewhere.^[49][50][51]

Gallery

• 
  Paris Road
• 
  Medical Center
• 
  Rail Line
• 
  Shaheed Minar
• 
  Stadium
• 
  Swimming Pool
• 
  Main Gate

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to University of Rajshahi.

• Islamic University of Technology (IUT)
• Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET)
• University of Dhaka

Notes

References

External links

• Official website