Five assistant proctors of Dhaka University (DU) have submitted their resignations, stepping down from their duties. All of them were appointed to the posts during the tenure of the interim government following last year's July uprising. Allegations have surfaced that the university administration had "requested" them to resign.

Rejecting the allegation on Thursday afternoon, DU Proctor Associate Professor Md Israfil Ratan told Prothom Alo, "So far, I have received resignation letters from five people. Among them, two submitted their resignations yesterday [Wednesday] and three today [Thursday]."

Who Resigned

The five who resigned are: Muhammad Rafiqul Islam, Associate Professor, Department of Arabic; Atia Sanjida Sharmi, Lecturer, Department of Zoology; Muhammad Mahbub Kaisar, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology; Sharmin Kabir, Associate Professor, Institute of Education and Research (IER); and an Assistant Professor from the Department of Management Information Systems (MIS).

Context of the Resignations

All five individuals were appointed as assistant proctors after the July uprising during the interim government's tenure. Since these appointments, discussions about restructuring the administrative framework in line with the political transition have been ongoing at various levels of the university. While no formal statement has been issued by the resigning teachers regarding their reasons, the Proctor's Office has directly denied the allegation of any "request" from the administration.

Proctor Md Israfil Ratan has dismissed claims of any pressure or request from the administration for the resignations. According to him, the resignation letters were submitted voluntarily, and the university administration played no role in the matter. However, the Proctor's Office did not provide specific reasons for the resignations or details on subsequent administrative steps.

Next Steps

It remains unclear whether the resignation letters have been formally accepted. According to the university's standard procedures, resignations of proctorial team members typically take effect after approval from the Vice-Chancellor or relevant authorities. There has been no official announcement yet regarding the remaining number of members in the DU proctorial team or whether new appointments will be made to fill the vacancies.

The resignations have sparked discussions within the university community. The Proctor's Office has declined to make further comments on the matter.