SUST Students Step Up Shutdown Demand Over SUCSU Elections
Ahead of the national election, the campus of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) has once again been rocked by protests demanding elections to the university’s Central Students’ Union (SUCSU). From the protest rally, demonstrators announced that all academic and administrative activities of the university would remain shut down from Sunday, January 25, until the SUCSU election is held. They declared that the movement would continue until their demand is met.
On Saturday afternoon, January 24, candidates from various panels and general students staged a protest in front of the university’s administrative building, demanding immediate SUCSU elections. During the protest march, students chanted slogans such as “High Court or SUCSU, we want SUCSU,” “No excuses over SUCSU, we won’t accept it,” “I have a plan—ban SUCSU,” “Administration must accept SUSTians’ decision,” “SUCSU is my right, who can stop it,” and “We want SUCSU—give us SUCSU, or leave the seat.”
Later in the afternoon, protesters brought out another procession on campus. The march began at 5:00 pm from the university’s Gol Chattar, circled the male and female residential halls, and finally converged in front of Administrative Building-1. As of 8:00 pm, when this report was filed, students were continuing their sit-in protest at the site.
Among those present at the protest were Delwar Hasan, vice-presidential (VP) candidate of the Islami Chhatra Shibir-backed ‘Durbar SUSTian Oikya’ panel; Mujahidul Islam, general secretary (GS) candidate of the same panel; independent GS candidate Palash Bakhtiar; and Hafizur Islam, assistant general secretary (AGS) candidate of the ‘Sadharan OikyaSwar’ panel, among others.
Speaking at the protest, independent GS candidate Palash Bakhtiar said that after repeated delays, the SUCSU election date was announced for January 20, ahead of the national election. “BNP is trying with all its strength to stop this SUCSU election. We have spoken on behalf of the students. They fear that if SUCSU does not take place, undemocratic practices of the past will return. Students want SUCSU elections. They want to reclaim their democratic rights through voting,” he said.
He further alleged that the High Court is treating the SUCSU election as a major issue and that the university administration has shown
significant negligence. “The administration is not handling the writ petition in the way it should be addressed in the High Court. Even after filing an appeal, no hearing has taken place. We want the hearing to be held on Sunday and hope the verdict will come in favour of SUST students,” he added.
Meanwhile, Delwar Hasan, VP candidate of the ‘Durbar SUSTian Oikya’ panel, said, “The SUCSU election must be completed before the national election. Yesterday, Friday (January 23), after discussions with class representatives (CRs) of all departments, it was decided that from Sunday (January 25) the university’s academic and administrative activities will remain shut down. Our movement will continue until the SUCSU election is held.”
It is worth noting that after a gap of 28 years, voting for the SUCSU election was scheduled to be held last Tuesday (January 20). However, following writ petitions filed by two candidates and one student on Monday, the High Court ordered a four-week suspension of the election. As news of the suspension spread, activists from the Shibir-backed ‘Durbar SUSTian Oikya’ panel, the ‘Sadharaner OikyaSwar’ panel, independent candidates, and a section of students blocked the Sylhet–Sunamganj regional highway in front of the university’s main gate on the same day.
Subsequently, on Tuesday, students staged a sit-in and protest in front of the administrative building from 12:00 pm to 5:00 pm. Later that evening, after a protest march, demonstrators announced a boycott of classes and examinations. As a result, no classes or exams were held in the university’s 28 departments on Wednesday (January 21) and Thursday (January 22), although administrative activities remained operational.
DBTech/NDJN/MUM/OR
