The three UGC members, Prof M Mahbub Ullah, Prof Sultan Hossain and Prof Tareque Shamsur Rahman, met with Education Adviser Ayub Quadri yesterday anddecided to resign.

Prof Mahbub Ullah and Prof Sultan sent their resignation letters to the education ministry. Prof Tareque will send his resignation letter today, sources at the UGC said.

"The adviser told us that the ministry will sack us if we don't agree to resign. After the meeting Mahbub and I sent our resignation letters to the ministry through UGC Secretary Mohammed Mufakker. Tareque will probably send his resignation letter tomorrow," Prof Sultan told The Daily Star yesterday evening over phone.

Education Secretary M Momtazul Islam made phone calls on July 30 to four UGC members Prof Faisul Islam Farruqui, Mahbub, Sultan and Tareque who had been appointed during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, and asked them to resign.

Prof Farruqui, who was former vice-chancellor of Rajshahi University (RU), resigned on Tuesday.

However, three other members Mahbub, Sultan and Tareque strongly protested the government request and said they would not resign until they were informed about the reason.

Prof Tareque yesterday refused to make any comment about his position.

Another UGC member, Ehsanul Hoque, who was also appointed by the BNP-Jamaat coalition government, has not been asked to resign.