KUET Students Vow to Sustain Movement Amid Administrative Actions
In the late hours of Wednesday night, general students of Khulna University of Engineering & Technology (KUET) reaffirmed their commitment to ensuring the ongoing movement does not fail. Through a statement issued on social media platform Facebook from an undisclosed location, they declared that more than five thousand students stand united.
The statement reads, “The fascist government of the past 16 years has failed to suppress the July movement despite deploying all authoritarian measures. However, six months after the July movement, the KUET administration is once again resorting to the same oppressive tactics against students, and they are bound to fail. We will not let this movement, built on the blood of KUET students, go in vain. We will seek justice for the blood of our brothers.”
The students further stated that the KUET administration, having failed to suppress their rightful and ethical demands, issued a notice on February 25, 2025, instructing the evacuation of residential halls within 15 hours. “Since February 18, we have been clear that we will not vacate our halls. Therefore, we outright reject the hall evacuation notice with contempt. In an attempt to force us out, the KUET administration has cut off our internet connection since this afternoon and has also shut down all water supply lines. We fear that electricity may be disconnected at any moment,” the statement added.
Additionally, the students alleged that the university registrar, along with faculty members and an official named Masud, have been making false statements to the media. “The overall behavior of the KUET administration reminds us of the fallen autocrats of the July revolution. Just as a dictator did not hesitate to shed the blood of students and citizens to hold on to power, today, the KUET administration is toying with the blood of our 150 injured brothers. Like the fallen autocrats, they are using hall evacuations as a tool to suppress the movement. And when we resist, they respond with inhumane tactics such as cutting off Wi-Fi and water,” they claimed.
The statement also refuted the KUET registrar’s claim that 20-25 teachers were injured while trying to protect students. “We want to make it clear that only two teachers—Professor Dr. Md. Abdullah Elias and Professor Dr. Sheikh Shariful Alam—were injured while attempting to help us. We deeply sympathize with them. But if, as the registrar claims, so many teachers had stood by us on February 18 during the attack, perhaps we would not have lost so much blood. His statement is entirely false and a failed strategy to cover up the administration’s incompetence, much like the tactics of a fallen dictator,” the students asserted.
Highlighting further grievances, they added, “Yesterday, we witnessed how students were threatened with remarks such as ‘You don’t need to collect your results!’ and how family backgrounds were used to intimidate us with questions like ‘What does your father do?’ Moreover, under the pretext of ‘disrespecting teachers,’ our legitimate movement has been crushed beneath the weight of authoritarian oppression, despite the fact that it was founded upon the blood of our brothers.”
