Students Stand in Solidarity: BUET Joins KUET Protest with Processions and Blockade
In a show of solidarity with the students of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET), who are protesting with a single-point demand, students of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) organized a demonstration and protest rally on Tuesday. Many BUET students also changed their profile pictures on Facebook using the hashtag “#buetstandswithkuet” along with an image displaying the number ‘1’ on a red background splattered with black spots, symbolizing their support. The caption accompanying these photos read, “I express solidarity with KUET’s just ‘one-point’ demand.” The virtual protest has also drawn participation from students at Dhaka University.
On Tuesday, April 22, the BUET protest rally commenced at 1:00 pm from the university’s Shaheed Minar. Marching through Palashi, it reached the Raju Sculpture at Dhaka University, where a press conference was held.
During the briefing, BUET student Al Farabi said, “BUET students fully stand in solidarity with KUET students’ just demands. We strongly urge that the KUET students’ demands be fulfilled immediately and that arrangements be made for them to break their hunger strike. We also demand that those responsible be brought to justice swiftly.”
Addressing the interim government, he added, “Take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of KUET students and restore an environment conducive to education.”
The protest events were streamed live on Facebook. Later in the evening, around 10:30 pm, a group of students from BUET, Dhaka University, and Jagannath University marched from the DU residential halls and blockaded the Shahbagh intersection. They chanted slogans such as “Blockade, Shahbagh Blockade,” “My brother is on hunger strike,” “How can an interim government act?” and “Terror in education cannot coexist.”
The coordinated actions marked a significant escalation in student-led activism, calling attention to the situation at KUET and demanding justice and reform in higher educational institutions.
