We’re against Hizbut Tahrir, expel anyone with Shibir connection, say demonstrating BUET students

Demonstrating students of BUET organise a press breifing on BUET campus on Saturday
Prothom Alo

Demonstrating students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) Sunday said taking a stance against student politics on their campus is not tantamount to distancing from the ideal of liberation war.

The students also said they only want the greed of power politics to not come back and hold the majority of the students of the campus hostage.

The students said they nurture patriotism and the ideal of liberation war. The demonstrating students are dead against Hizbut Tahrir and want immediate expulsion of any student with proven involvement with politics of Chhatra Shibir.

The demonstrating students made these comments at a press briefing in front of Dr M A Rashid Administrative Building at 5:30 pm.

The students have been waging a movement since Friday protesting against the entrance of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders and activists on BUET campus on Wednesday night.

The students boycotted all academic activities including term final examination for the second day today.

BCL organised a protest rally at Central Shaheed Minar today and then entered BUET campus to place a wreath at the mural of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

On the other hand, demonstrating students were scheduled to gather on the campus’ Shaheed Minar area from 7:00 am but none turn up there. They later organised the press briefing in the afternoon.

Three students of BUET read out the statement on behalf of the demonstrators.

They said the BUET students did not gather for their pre-scheduled programme today due to acute security concerns. They alleged various misinformation campaigns were launched against the demonstrating students, which made the campus and adjacent areas unsafe for the demonstrating students.

The written statement asserted that not observing the pre-scheduled programme does not mean that the students backtracked from their demand of continuation of ban on student politics on the campus.

The students said their stance is not against any particular political party, rather against activities of all student organisations.

The statement said BUET campus had enabling environment for growth of healthy leadership and high moral standard among the students amid the absence of student politics for last several years. As the campus now have student-friendly environment, the students of BUET have increasingly inclined towards academic excellence as well as research-oriented activities. It is not appropriate to slender the BUET students despite so many successes in last five years in a campus that was free from student politics.