CUET Registrar Relieved Amid Resignation Dispute

Professor Sheikh Humayun Kabir of the Department of Mechanical Engineering has been relieved of his additional responsibilities as Registrar of Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (CUET). However, he has questioned the process of accepting his resignation and relieving him of the responsibility, claiming that the decision was communicated only by email without following the usual administrative procedure.

CUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam confirmed the development to DigiBanglaTech.news. He said the decision was taken in response to Professor Kabir’s written application.

Professor Sheikh Humayun Kabir had been performing the additional duties of Registrar alongside his regular departmental responsibilities since August 28, 2022. On September 1 this year, he submitted a resignation letter seeking release from the additional responsibility.

Asked about the decision, Vice-Chancellor Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam said, “On September 24, the Registrar informed me that he had submitted his resignation letter. The decision was taken on the basis of his written application.”

Professor Sheikh Humayun Kabir, however, said, “I submitted my resignation to the previous Vice-Chancellor, citing personal reasons. I did not submit it to Professor Shariful Alam. So it would have been better if the previous Vice-Chancellor had accepted the resignation.”

Questioning the procedure, he said, “I was not relieved through the usual process either. When a resignation is submitted, it becomes an official file. The Vice-Chancellor approves that file, and then an office order is issued through another official. But nothing like that happened. I was only sent an email. It did not have any reference number. In the email, he wrote, ‘You are relieved.’ My name was not even mentioned. None of this followed the rules. Nevertheless, I did submit my resignation on September 1, citing personal reasons.”

On September 21, CUET Vice-Chancellor Professor Abu Sadat Muhammad Sayem was removed from the post, and Professor Sheikh Shariful Alam of Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) was appointed as the new Vice-Chancellor.

Protesting the appointment, students began an all-out shutdown on September 22. Teachers, officers and employees also observed work abstentions and non-cooperation programmes over the same demand. As a result, most academic activities at the university were suspended, including 34 examinations across seven departments.

After 36 days of shutdown, students returned to classes in the interest of academic activities. However, they announced that their movement would continue despite resuming classes.

//DBTech/Md Rakib Hasan/SME/MIST//