KUET Students Storm Dorms Demanding VC’s Dismissal
After spending two consecutive nights on the veranda of the administrative building, students of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) forcibly reopened five residential halls on Tuesday, April 15. At around 2:00 PM, the protesting students began breaking the locks of the halls themselves.
Earlier at 1:00 PM, students organized a protest rally and marched to various academic departments, requesting the faculty members to unlock the halls. However, the teachers did not respond to their appeals.
During a press briefing held at the KUET Student Welfare Centre at around 12:00 noon, the students announced a one-point demand calling for the resignation of Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Mohammad Alamgir Masud.
One of the protesting students read out the official declaration: “Since the VC has failed to ensure the safety of KUET students, since he has refused to take responsibility for his failure, since he shut off internet and water supplies and forced students out of the halls, since he incited legal action against the protesting students, and since he expelled students involved in the protests, we are shifting from six-point demands to a single demand: the removal of the VC is our only demand. We also call for an impartial investigation under a newly appointed VC.”
Following this declaration, the students announced their intention to forcibly enter the residential halls and began marching toward Khan Jahan Ali Hall. They broke the locks on the main entrance there, subsequently doing the same at other halls.
Earlier in the day, at 1:00 PM, students held a rally under the campus sculpture “Durbar Bangla” as part of the “Make KUET Free Again” movement. Over 150 students participated in the demonstration, rejecting the recent decision of the university’s syndicate to temporarily suspend 37 students accused of involvement in recent clashes. The protesters demanded the immediate reopening of the halls and carried placards reflecting this demand. They also urged the administration to disclose the full list of suspended students.
It is noteworthy that on the previous Monday night, KUET’s syndicate convened an emergency meeting and decided to reopen the residential halls on May 2 and resume academic activities on May 4. Rejecting this decision, the students began a sit-in protest in front of the administrative building and have since been spending their nights there in the open air.
