CUET students return to classes after 36-day shutdown, vow to continue VC reinstatement movement

Students at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) returned to classes on Wednesday after a 36-day “complete shutdown”, but said their movement demanding the reinstatement of the outgoing vice-chancellor (VC) would continue.

A visit to the Department of Urban and Regional Planning on Wednesday morning found classes under way for different batches in separate classrooms, although student attendance was somewhat lower than usual. A similar picture was seen in several other departments.

Professor Fowzia Gulshana Rashid, head of the Department of Urban and Regional Planning, said, “Classes for all batches in our department resumed today. Teachers and students have returned to the classrooms.”

Classes did not resume in several departments, including Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Biomedical Engineering.

Sources in the two departments said classes had been scheduled to resume on Wednesday, but teachers and students did not attend because meetings with the University Grants Commission’s (UGC) advisory committee were scheduled for the day. Classes are expected to resume on Thursday.

Professor Tofael Ahmed, head of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, said, “Our department was fully prepared to resume classes. However, the teachers have a meeting with the UGC advisory committee, as do the students. That is why they did not attend.”

Professor Pranab Kumar Dhar, head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, also said classes had not resumed in his department.

He said he had yet to receive any formal application from students. If they submitted applications through their course coordinators, the department would consider them before deciding when to resume classes.

On Sunday afternoon, CUET students had written an open letter seeking teachers’ support for their return to classes. At a general meeting held at the university’s central auditorium the same day, the teachers’ association decided to urge students to resume classes.

After the meeting, the association’s joint secretary, Samiun Basir, said individual departments would decide their own dates for resuming classes. Later that night, the protesting students announced in a statement that they would return to classes from Wednesday.

Nafis Hasan, a fourth-year student in the Department of Civil Engineering and one of the protesters, told Prothom Alo, “The prolonged suspension of classes and examinations has put our academic careers and future in uncertainty. We want normal academic activities to resume as soon as possible. That is why we are returning to classes.”

However, he said the movement to reinstate the outgoing VC was continuing.

“Returning to classes does not mean we are giving up our legitimate demand. Our movement to have Professor Sayeem reinstated will continue. We want a dignified resolution to the crisis, not confrontation. We hope our demand will be given serious consideration while ensuring that our academic lives remain on track,” Nafis said.

Meanwhile, the UGC-appointed advisory committee is scheduled to hold consultations with teachers, students and other stakeholders on Wednesday in an effort to resolve the ongoing impasse.

According to the schedule, the committee is due to meet teachers from 10:00 am to 11:00 am, followed by students from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Consultations with university officials are scheduled for 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm, while employees are due to meet the committee from 3:30pm to 4:00 pm.

On 21 September, CUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Abu Sadat Md Sayem was removed and Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) was appointed as his successor.

In protest, students launched a ‘complete shutdown’ on 22 September. Teachers, officials and employees also joined the protest through work stoppages, bringing classes, examinations and other academic activities to a halt.

Amid the protests, Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam entered the campus at around 9:00 am on 12 October. Accompanied by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) leaders, he broke the lock on the VC’s building and entered his office.

After learning of his arrival, protesting students began gathering in front of the building at around 9:30 am. They gave him an ultimatum to leave the office by noon. After midday, they locked the building’s entrance and disconnected its electricity supply.

The VC and 10 others were trapped inside. The following day, he said he was feeling unwell, and two physicians arrived to examine him.

After being confined for nearly 30 hours, the people inside were rescued. The VC was then admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital.

After recovering and returning, he convened an online meeting of the university’s syndicate.

Subsequently, following instructions from the Ministry of Education, the UGC formed a six-member advisory committee to resolve the crisis at CUET.

UGC member Professor Abdullah Al-Mamun was appointed chair of the committee, while the commission’s additional director, Mohammad Mohibul Ahsan, was named member-secretary.

The other members are the VCs of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET), the University of Chittagong and Chittagong Veterinary and Animal Sciences University (CVASU), along with Mohammad Mahbubul Haque Patwari, additional secretary (universities) at the Secondary and Higher Education Division of the Ministry of Education.