CUET Students Outraged Over VC Video Statement

A video message broadcast by the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor, considered 'unwanted' by students, faculty, and staff, has sparked intense outrage among general students at Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET). Following the departure of newly appointed Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Sheikh Shariful Alam from the administrative building on the evening of October 13 via district administration mediation, protesting students strongly rejected his subsequent media statements as misleading, reiterating their uncompromising stance.

Student representatives stated that resolving the university's administrative crisis must be grounded in truth, accountability, and stakeholder trust. Following a 30-hour blockade that ended with the departure of the VC and his associates, the campus currently sits under a total shutdown. Padlocks remain on the VC's office and administrative buildings, flanked by human chain banners from the CUET Teachers' Association and work-abstention notices from the Staff Association.

According to student sources, full humanitarian assistance was provided to the Vice-Chancellor and his associates during the 30-hour blockade inside the administrative building. Protesters supplied food, water, necessary medications, and arranged regular health check-ups through a medical team. While electrical lines were severed, water supplies were kept fully operational. To disprove contradictory claims published in media outlets, students urged authorities to release recorded video logs of the event.

The Vice-Chancellor was permitted to safely leave the campus under police and district administration escort due to medical concerns. Student representatives noted that District Administration and Police Super officials were explicitly informed that the VC was being allowed passage on the condition that he would not return to the university campus. Protesters stated that when this condition was announced three times before the media, neither the VC nor the nine accompanying individuals objected. His subsequent statement regarding returning to campus triggered severe backlash, with students warning of intensified protests should he attempt a return.

The protesting body remains united under a single demand: the immediate reinstatement of former Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayem. The previously announced complete shutdown, along with total boycott of academic classes and examinations, will continue indefinitely until the demand is met.

In a joint statement, the protesting students warned that their humanitarian courtesy should not be mistaken for weakness, their restraint for defeat, or a safe exit for the end of the movement. They emphasized that their stance regarding CUET's dignity, institutional trust, and legitimate demands remains firm, affirming that peaceful and democratic protests will continue until their single demand is fulfilled.

//DBTech/CRH/SMP/OEM//