55 Years of Chittagong University: Crisis and Expectations

 

The University of Chittagong, a campus of picturesque natural beauty, has entered 56 years of its establishment this year. Chittagong University is one of the four fully autonomous universities in the country. It is the third public university in the country in terms of establishment. The University of Chittagong officially started its journey on November 18, 1966 and it is by far the largest university campus in the country-- which is surrounded with 2100 acres of large hilly and flat land.

The University of Chittagong was founded with four departments of Bengali, English, History and Economics, 7 teachers and 200 students. Now the university has 9 faculties, 48 departments and 6 institutes.  About 24,000 students are studying here and have 920 teachers. There are a total of 13 dormitory halls (8 for boys, 5 for girls) and one hostel for students.

History behind the establishment of Chittagong University:

As there was no university in the Chittagong division at the beginning of the twentieth century, the people of Chittagong felt the need for a university locally. On 28 December 1940, Maulana Moniruzzaman, in his speech to the Islamabad All India Conference of Jamiat Ulama Hind in Calcutta, proposed the construction of an 'Islamic University' in the Chittagong region and for the same purpose he purchased land for the construction of a university at Deyang Hill in Anwara upazila of Chittagong. Two years later, on 28 February 1942, Nur Ahmad, Chairman, formally demanded the establishment of a university in Chittagong in the Bengal Legislative Assembly.

In the sixties, during the preparation of the Second Five Year Plan of Pakistan (1960-1965), it was decided to set up a 'Science University' in Chittagong.  And Chittagong Government College, located in the heart of the city, was selected as a potential campus for the construction of the university.  In 1962, Mohammad Ferdous Khan, the then Deputy Director of Public Education in East Pakistan, prepared a preliminary draft plan for the establishment of Chittagong University. In the same year, in the election campaign of 1962, Khan Bahadur Fazlul Quader Chowdhury made a general promise to establish this university and after the election he was elected Union Minister of Education and took formal initiative to establish a university in Chittagong.

After the initial decision to set up this university on the site of Chittagong Government College was changed, a protest meeting was held on 7 May 1961 at the initiative of the people of Chittagong. In that meeting, Dr. Muhammad Shahidullah, in his keynote address, expressed his support for the establishment of a university in Chittagong and formed the 'Chittagong University Struggle Council' for its implementation.  Subsequently, on 30 December 1962, another council called 'Chittagong University Student Struggle Council' was formed.  At the initiative of all these organizations, communication and issuance of memorandums, statements in newspapers, seminars were held at different levels. On January 8, 1963, a strike was observed in the educational institutions of Chittagong under the leadership of 'Chhatra Sangram Parishad.'

On 29 November 1963, Khan Bahadur Fazlul Quader Chowdhury was elected Speaker of the Pakistan National Assembly.  Although initially planned to establish the university in Sylhet, Comilla and Noakhali, Khan Bahadur Fazlul Quader Chowdhury, presiding over a cabinet meeting on 12 December 1963 in the absence of President Ayub Khan, directed Union Education Minister ATM Mostafa to take necessary steps to establish the university from Comilla to Chittagong.  A meeting of the National Economic Council held under his chairmanship on 9 March 1964 approved the necessary funds for the construction of Chittagong University.  Later, the Vice Chancellor of Dhaka University Dr. M Osman Gani was elected as the Chairman and Dr. Kudrat-e-Khuda, Dr. Mohammad Shahidullah, M Ferdous Khan and Dr. Mofizuddin Ahmed were elected as members of the University.  The commission observed the site and recommended the secluded hilly land of Paschim-Patti mouza of Fatehpur union of Hathazari upazila as the site of the proposed university. The decision to set up the University of Chittagong was taken at a meeting of the National Economic Council held in Islamabad on 17-19 July 1964 under the chairmanship of the Acting President of Pakistan Khan Bahadur Fazlul Quader Chowdhury.  On 29 August 1964, the President of Pakistan Ayub Khan laid the foundation stone of Chittagong University.

On December 3, 1965,  professor of Rajshahi University, Department of History and former curator of the Varendra Research Museum professor Dr. Azizur Rahman Mallick was appointed as the Project Director of Chittagong University. Then Dr. Azizur Rahman Mallick set up the office of Chittagong University Project in a building named 'Kakasan' on Nasirabad Housing Society Road No. 3 in Chittagong city.  Dr. Azizur Rahman Mallick was the first Vice Chancellor of Chittagong University. On 14 December 1965, according to an official notification, all the officers and employees of the University Branch of the then Pakistan Directorate of Education were transferred to the Chittagong University Project Office.  A master plan of the university was prepared through the 'Bastakala' institute of architect Mazharul Islam.  Initially, a two-storey administrative building, departmental office, one-storey building for classrooms and library were constructed as well as accommodation for teachers and students. Finally, on 18 November 1966, Chittagong University officially started its journey. Therefore, November 18 is celebrated as University Day.

Chittagong University is located in Hathazari upazila, 22 km from Chittagong city.  So the shuttle train was started in 1980 to facilitate the travel of students. And this shuttle train is the main attraction of Chittagong University. Chittagong University is currently the only shuttle train's university in the world.

At present there are 21 educational institutions under Chittagong University. Chittagong University has the largest university library in Chittagong-- so that there are more than three and a half lakh books and have rare collections. Many notable former teachers and students have studied and taught at this university, including one Nobel laureate Dr. Muhammad Yunus and multiple Ekushey Padak winners.

Founded five years before the Great Liberation War, Chittagong University played an active role in various movements of the country including the mass uprising of 1969, the struggle for independence of Bangladesh. Later, the university played a significant role in the anti-authoritarian movement of the 1990s.

On the eve of the War of Liberation in 1971, the then Vice Chancellor of the University Dr. Azizur Rahman Mallick to build resistance against the possible attack of the Pakistani army on March 8. 'Chittagong University Sangram Parishad' was formed under the chairmanship of Dr. Azizur Rahman Mallick. On March 24, in support of the freedom struggle, a mass music program was organized by the Alumni Association at the central ground of the university.  On March 26, Pakistani forces occupied the university campus, and used it as a base for nine consecutive months. The Pakistani army set up their concentration camp here.  Later, at the end of the war, the freedom fighters led by Zafar Imam raided the university on 14 December 1971 and on 16 December, nine days after the surrender of the Pakistani army in Dhaka, Chittagong University was liberated from Pakistani control on 25 December.

In 1971, a university teacher, 12 students and three officials were killed in the Bangladesh War of Independence.  Mohammad Hossain, an employee of the University Engineering Department, was given the title of Bir Pratik for his heroism in the war of liberation. In order to preserve this history, a memorial has been erected at Zero Point premises at the entrance of the university in 2009 to commemorate the victims of the liberation war.

In the long 55 years since the establishment of Chittagong University in 1966, many wise men and national heroes have been created from Chittagong University. Subcontinent renowned physicist Professor Dr. Jamal Nazrul Islam, Nobel laureate Professor Dr. Muhammad Yunus, Social scientist Professor Dr. Anupam Sen, Professor Dr. Anisuzzaman, Professor Abul Fazal, Alauddin Al Azad, Syed Ali Ahsan, Murtaza Bashir, Dhali Al Mamun, Partha Barua, former UGC Chairman Abdul Mannan and many other eminent scholars have spread the light of knowledge from this university.

Chittagong University teacher Md Shahadat Hossain identified two new fish species and teacher Manjurul Kibria received domestic and foreign honors for his contribution to the protection and research of Halda River, a natural fish breeding ground. Dr. Sheikh Aftab Uddin invented the method of purification of sea water at low cost. The book written by Dr. Al Amin reads as a reference book of 6 famous universities in United States, Professor Dr. Saidur Rahman Chowdhury's mapping of the Bay of Bengal and including many teachers of the university, have put their signatures of talent in their respective fields.

The students are not backward either.  Sajid Ali Hawlader, a former student of the university, has been recognized as the youngest scientist by discovering a new species of frog. Shakhawat Hasan, a student of Computer Science and Engineering Department and his team's name and fame have spread across the world. Besides, CU students have served in various fields including Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Chief Secretary to the Prime Minister, former cabinet secretary, 11 secretaries of different ministries and 30 additional secretaries. International disaster at Covid-19 pandemic situation, Professor Robiul Hasan Bhuiyan, a teacher at the University of Chittagong, has come up with the idea of 'plasma therapy' for the treatment of Covid-19. Later, this concept played an effective role in the country and abroad in treatment of Covid-19. Established five years before the independence of the country, this university has witnessed the history of Golden Jubilee in 2016.

There are many stories and parables to tell about the achievement of Chittagong University. But in order to move forward on the path of prosperity, to keep in a glorious position in the country and in the international arena, the university authority has to solve the ongoing problems and crises. Despite being the largest campus in the country, the students are being deprived of various facilities due to lack of adequate residential facilities. According to the latest 46th report of UGC, 79% of the total students of Chittagong University (CU) do not have accommodation. That is,  only 21 percent of students have the benefit of staying at hall. Moreover, there is a shortage of quality and adequate nutritious food in the halls dining.

Despite being one of the most important institutions of higher education sector in the country, there are still session jam in many departments, faculties and institutes at Chittagong University. And this session jam is a terrible curse for the students. In spite of being one of the important institutions of higher education sector in the country and one of the four fully autonomous universities, Chittagong University does not have TSC (Teachers-Students Center).  However, TSC plays an effective role in developing friendly environment between teachers and students. TSC also plays a significant role in advancing research, to develop the trend of free thinking. Research is the lifeblood of the university. According to recent statistics, Chittagong University lags far behind other universities in research works. University authority needed to involve students in research and increase allocations for research.

Shuttle train is the vitalization of Chittagong University. Partha Barua and SI Tutul were created from here by beating this shuttle. But there is a bogie crisis in the shuttle in proportion to the number of students, there is a lack of healthy environment. It can be seen that even if there is a fan inside the shuttle, the fan does not turn on, the lights do not turn on, there is no toilet system inside the shuttle.

There is no footover bridge for crossing the road at the main gate of CU which is known as 01 number gate. Many tragic road accidents have been occured in this place while crossing the road. A few days ago, such a road accident happened.  There is no alternative to build up a footover bridge here to avoid unintentional tragic road accidents. Moreover, most of the university students are hostages to the local villagers. Local homeowners, CNG drivers, rickshaw pullers, shopkeepers are arbitrarily fixing rent, and food prices as they wish. But everything around the public university should be within the reach of the students at affordable prices--which is determined by the university authority. It is seemed that there is no one to see the suffering of the students!  As a result, the suffering of the students is going on.

This is the expectation that the university administration will take effective steps to solve the ongoing problems and crises.  Especially, it is our expectation to the 18th and current vice chancellor of the University professor Dr. Shireen Akhter that she will play an effective role in the overall development of the University, to solve the ongoing problems and crises. As a student of Chittagong University I feel proud and I wish the prosperity of Chittagong University. Happy 55th University Day!


Emran Emon is a researcher, litterateur, journalist, and columnist