CUET students lock building with VC inside, demand his resignation

Protesting students at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) today locked the building housing the vice-chancellor’s office from the outside, trapping newly appointed VC Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam inside amid escalating tensions on campus.

Tensions escalated after Professor Shariful, formerly a faculty member of the Electrical and Electronic Engineering department at Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), arrived on campus in a microbus around 9:00am. He then broke the padlock on the gate and entered his office.

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By midday, hundreds of protesting students had gathered in front of the building, chanting slogans including “We reject the new VC” and demanding his immediate resignation. They also disconnected the building’s electricity supply.

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Photo: Rajib Raihan /Star

Several people were trapped inside the building alongside the VC, including CUET unit Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal President Wasif Rashed and other student leaders who had reportedly gone to welcome the VC.

Speaking to The Daily Star over the phone from inside the locked building, Rashed claimed that the student movement was being manipulated.

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CUET VC enters office by 'breaking padlock' amid student shutdown

“Students' agitation has been hijacked by a vested quarter,” Rashed said. “What does the appointment of a VC have to do with students? This is a government decision; the Chancellor appoints the VC. A section of teachers is provoking students for their own interests.”

Meanwhile, Professor Samiun Basir, assistant general secretary of the CUET Teachers' Association, said teachers would address the media at a press conference scheduled for 3:00pm today.

On the other hand, students alleged that two buses carrying CUET students were attacked in Madunaghat, Hathazari, around 2:00pm today. However, Chattogram Additional Superintendent of Police Md Sirajul Islam denied that any attack on students on the buses had taken place.

The crisis stems from Shariful’s appointment on September 21, replacing former VC Professor Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem. Protesting Sayem’s removal and demanding his immediate reinstatement, students launched an indefinite “complete shutdown” the following day.

Teachers, officers and employees also joined the movement through work stoppages. As a result, academic activities, including classes and examinations, have remained suspended at CUET for the past 20 days.