SUCSU: Election date rejected, VC and Pro-VC confined for 6 hrs

Students at Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) in Sylhet have rejected the announced date for the University’s Central Student’s Union (SUCSU) election and set a deadline for a new date.

The announcement was made by Delowar Hasan, a student of the English department around 3:45 am today, Saturday.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Delowar Hasan said, ‘We have rejected the announced date for the SUCSU election. A new election date must be set for any day before 12 December. We are giving the administration time until 9:00 pm tonight, Saturday.”

“A new date must be announced by then. Otherwise, the administrative building will be locked, and we will move towards tougher action. At the same time, all students have rejected the administrative decision to extend the winter vacation,’ added Delowar Hasan.

Earlier around 9:15 pm on Friday, SUST Vice-Chancellor AM Sarwaruddin Chowdhury announced 17 December as the date for the SUCSU election at a press conference. Immediately after the announcement, students rejected the date and began demonstrating at the gate of the administrative building from 9:30 pm.

As a result, the vice-chancellor, pro-vice-chancellor, treasurer, registrar, proctor, election commissioner and other officials were trapped inside. From 1:00 am onwards, the university administration tried to convince the students.

Ultimately, the officials were released after being held for nearly six hours, on the condition that a decision would be communicated before noon today. Later, the students announced that their protest would remain suspended until this noon.

At that time, the vice-chancellor told the students, ‘The SUCSU election will take place, begin your preparations. I don’t have the scope to take decisions unilaterally. I will discuss your logical demands with concerning authorities and make a decision.’

Meanwhile, supporting the student movement, Masud Rana Tuhin, secretary of Islami Chhatra Shibir’s SUST unit, arrived at the protest site around 10:30 pm on Friday. He said, ‘A certain group has been opposing the SUCSU election from the very beginning.”

“The vice-chancellor had assured students that the election would be held on 9 or 10 December. Yet suddenly 17 December has been announced as the election date, which Chhatra Shibir sees as a farce. We reject the administration’s decision and stand with the students,” he added.

Following student discussions and criticism, the authorities have relaxed the rules for paying due fees. At around 11:45 pm Friday night, a notice signed by the university registrar stated that the requirement to clear all dues in order to be a voter or a candidate in the election has been relaxed.

The notice also stated that the winter vacation, previously set from 21 December to 1 January, has been rescheduled. Now, all classes and offices will remain closed from 28 December to 8 January 2026. However, the admission test activities for the first-year first-semester intake in the 2025-26 session will continue as usual.

Speaking in this regard, the vice-chancellor said that students fear there will not be many voters on campus if the election is held on 17 December. Considering this concern, the winter vacation dates have been changed. He added that further measures would be discussed and implemented to ensure voters remain on campus.