Sheikh Mohammed Siam, a second-year English student at Jahangirnagar University, had been waging a fight all alone for nine consecutive days, to ensure dormitory accommodation for every student.

Unfortunately, the university authorities paid little to no heed to his demands. Siam had tried to meet the vice chancellor several times but failed.

"One day, a personal secretary of the VC asked me to come another day to meet an assistant personal secretary, just to schedule an appointment with the VC. I stood in front of the administrative building almost every day. The VC noticed me but didn't talk," alleged Siam.

The struggles of getting dormitory accommodation, or a seat, at JU is almost the same for every student. Despite JU being a residential university, authorities fail to accommodate new students every year.

Those studying there cannot find enough space in their rooms to keep bags. They can hardly fit themselves in to sleep, due to the overwhelming number of people. Most claimed that amid this situation, a quiet place to study in the dorms is almost unimaginable.

JU has 12,938 regular students against 8,278 seats inside the 16 dorms. So, how do these youngsters accommodate themselves?

Siam's batch can provide an example. On March 10, 2020, the batch began its journey at JU. Like every year, students were brought under the hall-attachment system.

"I accommodated myself in one of the 'mini gonorooms' of Shaheed Rafiq-Jabbar Hall... Fifteen to 20 of us stayed together. In room 129 to 133 at Rafiq-Jabbar Hall, we lived in an unbearable environment," Siam recalled.

"In May this year, I shifted rooms, but I'm still struggling to sleep and study," said Siam.

Siam's friends are still staying in the mini gonorooms, struggling. This finally led him to demand at least a seat and studying table for all.

Siam started his demonstration on September 18. As the campus is currently closed, he has paused his movement for the time being but promised to continue the fight. On the first day, he stood at busy areas of the campus with a banner in hand. "I stood at Shaheed Minar, the transport yard, TSC, and the registrar's office."

"The second day, I stood in front of our administrative building, and the VC noticed me. He said nothing and went away. Proctor ASM Firoz Ul Hasan approached me that day but said nothing satisfactory," he recalled.

After that day, the hall provost of Siam's allocated dorm called him. Later, the two met, and Siam got assurance of getting a seat for himself, he said.

"But my fight is not for ensuring a seat for myself; it is for every student," Siam explained.

Amartya Ray, general secretary of Chhatra Union's JU unit, said, "This must not continue. The idea of a residential university has become a myth. A student should get proper accommodation on their very first day."

"Moreover, a VC needs to be more understanding. A student, demonstrating for nine days, doesn't deserve such treatment just to meet the VC," Amartya said.

Sukalyan Kumar Kundu, provost of Shaheed Salam-Barkat Hall, the one Siam belongs to, said, "I can't deny that there is political influence in dorms to allocate seats. I talked with Siam and assured him of meeting his demands."

Abdullah Hel Kafi, president of the hall-provost committee, said, "We have limitations, but soon, we are going to inaugurate six new dorms. I think this will resolve the problems."

This correspondent phoned VC Prof Nurul Alam several time, but he did not pick up the calls.