Allama Shah Ahmad Shafi has resigned from the post of director general (DG) of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam, popularly known as Hathazari Madrasa in Chittagong, in the face of student protests.
Ahmad Shafi quit the post on Thursday night, confirmed Madrasa Majlis-e-Shura Committee member Allama Salauddin Nanupuri, to Bangla Tribune.
Due to illness, Shah Ahmad Shafi, also chief of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh, resigned voluntarily and handed over charge to the Shura committee (highest decision-making body), after a meeting of the committee.
"We will come to a decision later about the next DG of the madrasa."
He said: "In the meeting, the Shura committee made two more decisions -- Ahmad Shafi will act as an honorary adviser in the madrasa and Allama Nurul Islam Jadid has been expelled from the institution."
It was also decided in the meeting that no students will be harassed in any way.
Earlier, on Thursday, the Education Ministry shut down the madrasa until further notice amid student protests that continued until Thursday night for the second day to press home their six-point demand.
Also Read - Hathazari Madrasa closed sine die
A notice signed by Syed Asgar Ali, assistant secretary to the Technical and Madrasah Education Division of the Education Ministry, issued the order.
"On August 24, a conditional permission was given to the qawmi madrasas to resume academic activities and examinations. As the conditions were not fulfilled properly, Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam has been shut down until further notice. The order will come into effect immediately," the notice reads.
However, after the resignation of Ahmad Shafi, students called off their protests.
On Wednesday, several hundred students of Hathazari Madrasa rose in protest to realize their demands.
Students also went on a rampage and vandalized some rooms of the madrasa.
The violent protest is a sequel to the rift between Hefazat Secretary General Junayed Babunagari and Anas Madani, the eldest son of Ahmad Shafi.
The schism surfaced when Babunagari was removed from the post of assistant director of the madrasa in June this year.
In the wake of raging student protests, the Shura committee held an emergency meeting on Wednesday night and decided to relieve Anas Madani of his duties as assistant director of the madrasa.
Anas Madani is also the public relations secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam.
