TDS Desk:

Dhaka University has been closed indefinitely and students have been instructed to leave their residential halls by 6:00pm.

The decision by the university’s Syndicate – its highest policymaking forum – was announced by Prof Sitesh Chandra Bachar, the pro-vice chancellor (academic), around 1pm.

The Syndicate had sat for an emergency meeting at the office of Vice Chancellor ASM Maksud Kamal at 10am on Wednesday to determine their response to the University Grants Commission’s instructions to close all universities across the country and to order students to leave their residential halls amid violence surrounding the quota reform protests.

Dhaka University will be closed indefinitely and students must leave residential halls by 6pm, Bachar said.

The emergency syndicate meeting began amid tight security on campus by Border Guard Bangladesh and other law enforcing agencies.

The meeting was to determine when students would be instructed to leave their residential halls.

After an hour, the vice chancellor and other Syndicate members emerged from the meeting but did not speak to the media.

Dr Abul Mansur Ahmed, a member of the Syndicate, said that no decision had been reached during the first meeting which began around 10am and ended around an hour later.

A second meeting was then held and Pro VC Bachar announced the university closure afterwards.

The Syndicate called on the government to take steps to find a reasonable solution to the quota situation in a notice released after the meeting.

The meeting began with tributes to the victims of the nationwide clashes centring on the quota movement and the Syndicate sending their deep condolences to their families. They also expressed their deep condolences to the teachers and students of Dhaka University and across the country who were injured amid the violence.

According to the Syndicate’s notice, the decision to close the university was taken ‘in order to maintain the safety of students and the academic environment’.

The notice also said that when residential halls reopen, any free seats would be allotted based on merit. It also instructed outsiders to remain off the campus.

The Syndicate also decided to provide required medical care support to the students and teachers of the university who suffered injuries.