Controversial Questions: RU 'takes steps', but no action yet

Rajshahi University authorities are yet to identify the persons responsible for the widely criticisedMCQsin Wednesday's admission test for the university's faculty of fine arts.

Vice Chancellor Prof AbdusSobhan said the administration has “taken some decisions and took some measures.” But he did specifically say whatstep was taken in the last two days.

He said the multiple choice questions (MCQ) sparked religious tension on and around the campus and the people responsible would be brought to book.

“There must be documents mentioning those who proposed the questions. We would try to find them,” he told The Daily Star.

However, Prof Mustafizur Rahman, dean of fine arts, said the matter deserves some debate before anyone is given punishment.

Nurul Modasser Chowdhury, a fine arts teacher involved in the process of selecting the questions said the MCQs were not on the documents placed beforethe moderation of proposed questions.

“It happened somehow before printing,” he said. 

This year, 4,032 students vied for 120 seats of the faculty. Two of the 80 MCQs in the admission test have been widely criticised.

One of the questions asked, "What is the name of the greatest book in the world?"

It had four choices: A) The Holy Quran, B) The Holy Bible, C) The Holy Injil and D) Gita.

This particular MCQ, along with another controversial one from that paper, later triggered an outrage on the campus and criticisms on social media, with many blasting the university authorities for coming up with the "extremely communal" questions.

The other question was, "When did the Myanmar army and the Buddhists launch an armed attack on the Rohingya Muslims?"