Jahangirnagar University is a lush green campus located on the outskirts of the capital. The seamless interconnection of nature and biodiversity has made the campus unique compared to others.
However, the university authorities have driven the last nail into the coffin of nature and biodiversity at Jahangirnagar University by indiscriminately chopping down trees, disregarding stakeholders opinions over the construction of the Arts and Humanities Faculty extension and the Fine Arts faculty.
On the morning of June 2, a group of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists from the JU unit and a group of Fine Arts department students took a stance at the pre-determined construction sites, cutting down around 200 trees.
Conversely, the protesting students were also present during this time but did not engage in any confrontation.
"The BCL activists and respective faculties students were there while they cut down the trees. Considering all aspects, we did not engage in any altercation or attempt to stop the work," said Alif Mahmud, president of a faction of the JU chapter of the Chhatra Union.
Meanwhile, Prof Golam Rabbani, a senate member and a faculty member of the history department, termed the silence of the protesting teachers and activists as astonishing, given their long-standing opposition to unplanned development.
"I have nothing to say. My heart is filled with profound grief. The morality of protesters should be consistent against all types of anomalies, but the silence of those who have long been vocal about this unplanned development is astonishing," Prof. Rabbani said.
Prof Md Jamal Uddin, chairman of the JU Environmental Sciences department, expressed concerns that such indiscriminate tree cutting leads to man-made crises, adversely affecting the local climate of the university.
"Changes to the local climate lead to rising temperatures, displacement of wildlife species, ecological imbalance, disruption of bird flight zones, and a decline in the number of migratory birds. The formulation of a well-planned master plan could be the only solution," he said, citing zoologists and botanists.
M M Maizuddin, project director of the construction of the Fine Arts faculty and also an associate professor of the Fine Arts department, said, "We are constructing the building at the location provided by the syndicate. We always remain conscious of preserving the ecological balance."
