DU Fazlul Haque hall provost accused of harassing student over Facebook posts

A Dhaka University student has accused the provost of Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall, Prof Elias Al Mamun, of detaining him in his office for around one and a half hours, mentally harassing him, confiscating his mobile phone and forcing him to sign a written statement on Sunday.

The student, Md Ibrahim, a resident of the hall and a student of the Department of Robotics and Mechatronics Engineering from the 2020-21 academic session, made the allegations in a Facebook post.

He alleged that the incident stemmed from his social media posts highlighting various problems at the hall, questioning the effectiveness of elected hall union representatives and criticising administrative decisions, including the closure of a popular food shop and the withholding of funds for events.

According to Ibrahim, he was summoned to the provost's office on Sunday. Fearing for his safety, he turned on his mobile phone's audio recorder before entering the office.

He said Prof Elias shouted at him after discovering the recording, while hall staff, including electrician Maruf and chief assistant Arif Hossain, forcibly took the phone and checked its contents. He also alleged that staff members blocked the door when he tried to leave.

Ibrahim claimed he was threatened with the cancellation of his hall seat, expulsion from the university through a direct application to the vice-chancellor and a case under cyber laws.

He alleged that he was then forced to write and sign a statement saying that he had made the critical posts at the instigation of student representatives.

He further claimed that hall staff contacted his mother during the incident. According to Ibrahim, he broke down in tears before being given water, fruit and breakfast and was instructed to tell people outside that the matter had been resolved.

He called for an investigation into the CCTV footage from the provost's office.

Following the allegations, residential students staged a protest at around 8pm on Sunday, demanding the resignation of the provost. DUCSU Social Service Secretary AB Zubair, Science and Technology Secretary Iqbal Haider and leaders of the Fazlul Haque Muslim Hall Union led the protest.

Denying allegations of physical or mental torture, Prof Elias Al Mamun said Ibrahim had been summoned to explain his “unauthorised” social media posts, in which he allegedly described the provost as the “worst provost” and raised allegations of financial irregularities concerning sports funds.

The provost defended his decision to take the student's phone after noticing that Ibrahim was making an unauthorised audio recording. He also acknowledged contacting Ibrahim's mother to inform her of the situation.

“Ibrahim admitted his mistake, apologised and was released after having breakfast,” Prof Elias said.

Dhaka University Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Administration) Prof Almujaddede Alfesanee said the university administration and the proctor's office were aware of the incident.

“We will look into the claims from both the student and the hall administration,” he said.