In a striking display of visual protest, students at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) marched through campus blindfolded on Wednesday, condemning university leadership for turning a blind eye to their ongoing campaign.
The symbolic procession marks the ninth day of an unrelenting “complete shutdown” at the institution.
Demonstrators are demanding the immediate reinstatement of former vice-chancellor, Professor Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem.
Stepping off from the Central Shaheed Minar premises at around 2:45 pm, scores of protesters bound black cloth over their eyes, a damning metaphor for what they describe as the administration’s deafening silence and persistent inertia.
The blindfolded column wound its way past the university medical centre, rounded Independence Square, and returned to the Shaheed Minar, their chants echoing across an otherwise paralysed campus.
Reverberating slogans including “Why is the administration silent? We want answers!” and “Our only demand is Sayem Sir!” filled the air throughout the rally.
“We have been conducting a peaceful movement at Cuet for nearly nine days,” said Ijaz Mahmud Khan, a fourth-year civil engineering student.
“Yet, to our deep disappointment, there has been neither a response nor a shred of effective action from the top. Today, we wear these blindfolds to hold up a mirror to their utter indifference,” he said.
The campus has been in total deadlock since 22 September, when students instituted a comprehensive strike that has effectively frozen regular lectures, examinations, laboratory sessions, and administrative operations.
Wednesday’s blindfolded march is merely the latest in an increasingly inventive arsenal of demonstrations staged over the past week, which has already seen mass signature drives, sit-ins, human chains, red-card rallies, and widespread protest graffiti.
As the complete shutdown endures, pressure continues to mount on university authorities to break their silence and address the growing turmoil.
