Protesting students at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) held a “masked procession” on Tuesday for the eighth consecutive day to demand the reinstatement of former Vice-Chancellor Professor Abu Shadat Muhammad Sayem.
During the demonstration, which began at 2:30pm from the premises of the university’s Central Shaheed Minar, students held a photograph of Prof Sayem in one hand and their university identification (ID) cards in the other.
The protesting students said that they carried their identity cards to counter allegations labelling participants in the movement as “outsiders”. They clarified that they are not outsiders, but enrolled CUET students protesting solely for Prof Sayem’s reinstatement as Vice-Chancellor.
Starting from the Central Shaheed Minar, the procession moved along the road adjacent to the university medical centre, circled Swadhinata Chattar, and concluded back at the Shaheed Minar premises.
Throughout the march, students chanted several slogans, including “Tumi ke, ami ke — Sayem Sir, Sayem Sir” (“Who are you, who am I — Sayem Sir, Sayem Sir”), “Ekti naam, ekti sur — Sayem Sir, Sayem Sir” (“One name, one tune — Sayem Sir, Sayem Sir”), and “Moder dabi ektai, Sayem Sir-ke VC chai” (“Our only demand, we want Sayem Sir as VC”).
Speaking during the event, Marjuka Chowdhury Mahira, a first-year student of the Department of Civil Engineering, said, “We, the students of CUET, have gathered at the Shaheed Minar today for the eighth day. Today we organised a masked procession demanding the reinstatement of Sayem Sir as VC. We had Sayem Sir’s picture in one hand and our ID cards in the other hand to convey that we are not outsiders — we are students of CUET. Our sole demand to the government is that Sayem Sir be reinstated as VC, and as long as our demand is not met, we will continue our programme.”
The demonstrators reaffirmed that their protest movement will continue until Prof Sayem is reinstated to the post of Vice-Chancellor.
