Demonstrating students at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) held a protest march even on a holiday, demanding the reinstatement of Vice-Chancellor ProfessorAbu Sadat Muhammad Sayem.
As part of the 11th day of their movement, the rally commenced at around 2pm on Friday from in front of the university’s central mosque.
The march proceeded from in front of the central mosque, circled Swadhinata Chattar, and concluded at central Shaheed Minar.
During the demonstration, students chanted various slogans, including “Whom do we want as VC? We want Sayem Sir again” and “We have only one demand, we want Sayem Sir as VC.”
Speaking after the march, Zulqarnain Mihad, a fourth-year student of Department of Mechanical Engineering, said, “Today is the 11th day of our movement. As part of our 11th day’s programme, we organised a protest rally on campus.”
“We are still not receiving any response from higher authorities regarding our demand. Today’s protest march is in response to this,” he added.
He further added, “Our classes and examinations remain suspended till now. We have decided to keep classes and exams closed until our demand is met. We want a positive outcome very soon from higher officials, the administration, and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.”
Arindam Dey, a fourth-year student from the same department, said, “We held a protest rally after Jummah prayers today in protest against the silence and inaction of the administration. We are all living in uncertainty, and we want an end to this uncertainty. From day one, our earnest appeal to Tarique Rahman has been: please intervene and bring a solution to this. We want to return to class.”
It is mentioned that an “all-out shutdown” programme by students has been ongoing at Cuet since 22 September.
Demanding the reinstatement of Professor Sayem as vice-chancellor, students have previously observed various programmes, including torch processions, displaying red cards, forming human chains, and conducting mass signature drives.
Due to the ongoing movement, regular classes, examinations, and other academic activities at the university remain suspended.
