DU hall leaders impose fines, authority says it's beyond their jurisdiction

Newly elected hall union leaders at Dhaka University are taking matters into their own hands, fining canteen and shop owners for allegedly using “testing salt” to enhance food flavour, sparking controversy over whether they have the legal or institutional authority to do so. Multiple incidents have emerged across residential halls where hall union vice presidents and general secretaries have issued fines, ranging from Tk 1,000 to Tk 3,000, and even threatened to cancel shop licenses. But university authorities have now stepped in, declaring such actions “outside the jurisdiction” of student leaders. At Masterda Suryasen Hall, newly elected Vice President Azizul Haque fined shopkeeper Obaidul Haque Tk 3,000 after allegedly discovering one kilogram of Monosodium glutamate (MSG) widely known as “testing...