BIT Demand Drives Demonstrations by Mymensingh Engineering Students

Students of Mymensingh Engineering College (MEC) staged demonstrations on Tuesday, July 8, calling for the cancellation of the 2024–25 Technology Unit admission test under the University of Dhaka and demanding the establishment of the Bangladesh Institute of Technology (BIT) through a one-point charter. They also announced a road blockade program in front of the college scheduled for Wednesday, July 9.

The students brought out a protest procession at 10:30 AM from the Shaheed Minar premises of the college located in the Rahmatpur Bypass area of Mymensingh city. Chanting slogans demanding the cancellation of affiliation with the University of Dhaka and for the transformation of their institution into a fully autonomous BIT-like entity, they marched towards the Mymensingh-Tangail and Rahmatpur-Digharkanda Bypass roads, where they held a brief rally.

During the rally, student protester Al Amin addressed the local community through a megaphone, declaring, “Although we have been demonstrating for two months to establish BIT, the higher authorities remain unresponsive to our demands. We had previously warned them of tougher measures. As part of our escalated movement, the Rahmatpur Bypass intersection will be totally blockaded from tomorrow. No vehicles will be allowed to pass. We hope the local people will spontaneously join and support our movement.”

In a written statement, the protesting students said that since May 20, general students of the three government engineering colleges—Mymensingh, Faridpur, and Barisal—have suspended all academic activities and examinations. Despite the prolonged deadlock, the University of Dhaka administration has failed to take any student-friendly measures. They accused the authorities of ignoring the justified demands of the public colleges while moving forward with semester final exams only at private institutions, thereby exposing a deliberate bias.

The statement reads, “It is now evident that the Technology Unit under the University of Dhaka continues to deliberately neglect government engineering colleges while shaping its policies to benefit private institutes. Given this reality, we firmly declare that we no longer wish to remain under the Technology Unit.”

It further states, “We hereby declare the cancellation of the 2024–25 Technology Unit admission test for these three government engineering colleges. No student will be admitted to these colleges through that admission process. Our clear demand is to bring the three government engineering colleges under the BIT framework and to initiate the admission process through an independent entrance examination. Until then, no form of admission activity will be permitted in these colleges.”

Regarding the situation, Mymensingh Engineering College Principal Mizanur Rahman said, “A meeting was held yesterday (Monday) with the Director General of the Directorate of Technical Education to address the ongoing crisis. Although each point raised by the students was discussed, no decisions were reached. The demands made by the students are long-term matters that require approval from the highest levels of government. It will take time, and until then, we must wait.”