Mask Rally Held at CUET for Sayem

Students at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) held a distinctive ‘mask rally’ on Tuesday, marking 56 days of their demand for the reinstatement of Professor Dr Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem as vice-chancellor. The rally was part of the eighth day of their ongoing movement, with participating students wearing masks featuring Professor Sayem’s image and displaying their student identification cards.

On September 29, Tuesday’s rally began at 2:30pm from the university’s Central Shaheed Minar premises. The procession passed through the road beside the university medical centre, circled Swadhinata Chattar and returned to the Shaheed Minar area.

During the rally, students chanted slogans including “Who are you, who am I—Sayem Sir, Sayem Sir,” “One name, one voice—Sayem Sir, Sayem Sir,” and “We have only one demand, we want Sayem Sir as VC.”

Moumita Dutta Priya, a student of the Department of Civil Engineering who participated in the rally, said, “We organized today’s mask rally to express our support for the demand to reinstate Sayem Sir as vice-chancellor. The mask carries a message: each of us, as students, considers ourselves to be Sayem Sir, and having him as vice-chancellor is one of our key demands. That is why we joined today’s rally wearing these masks. By participating in the mask rally with our student ID cards, we have demonstrated that this demand belongs to the students, teachers and all CUETians.”

Classes and examinations remained suspended at CUET despite Tuesday being a working day. Teachers began a work abstention and sit-in at 11:00am in front of the locked vice-chancellor’s building. The university’s officers’ and employees’ association also joined the work abstention according to its previously announced programme.

Earlier, students staged a late-night protest march at CUET’s Swadhinata Chattar following allegations that teachers and students involved in the movement had been threatened and intimidated by various groups.

Faizul Kabir Abrar, a third-year student of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, said, “In connection with our movement demanding the reinstatement of our VC, it appears that various groups have been threatening and intimidating us. We held yesterday’s protest march to oppose these threats, and many students were present. Another group has been giving us various political labels. After July, we had hoped that we would not have to face such labeling. However, whenever we come forward with legitimate demands, such as the demand to reinstate the VC, we are subjected to various political labels.”

According to the protesting students, teachers, officers, employees and students are continuing programmes demanding Professor Sayem’s reinstatement. The ongoing movement has left CUET’s academic activities stalled, with classes and examinations suspended.

//DBTech/Tanvir Ahmad/SME/MIST//